- Home
- Idioms
- omelet
omelet
you've got to crack a few eggs to make an omelette
Sometimes, you have to do unpleasant things in order to complete a task or meet a goal. Your students clearly don't respect you. I know you don't want to yell at them, but you've got to crack a few eggs to make an omelette. If I don't cut people's salaries, the company is going to go bankrupt. It's unfortunate, but you've got to crack a few eggs to make an omelette.
You cannot make an omelet without breaking eggs.
Prov. In order to get something good or useful, you must give up something else. Jill: Why do they have to tear down that beautiful old building to build an office park? Jane: You can't make an omelet without breaking eggs. Alan: We may make more money by raising our prices, but we'll also upset a lot of customers. Fred: You can't make an omelet without breaking eggs.