Idioms

if it ain't broke

if it ain't broke

If something is going or working well, there's no need to change it. A shortening of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," meaning the same. A: "We don't really need to implement these ridiculous changes, do we? Our current method is working just fine." B: "Sure, if it ain't broke, right?" Why do you have your tools out? Come on, man, the washing machine's fine, and if it ain't broke, then please don't fix it! Things are finally running smoothly in our department, so, please—if it ain't broke, don't fix it!
See also: broke, if

if it ain't broke, fix it till it is

An ironic expression intended to warn against damaging or ruining something that is perfectly fine by fiddling or interfering with it too much. A humorous play on the phrase "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." Of course the school board wants to change the grading system because if it ain’t broke, fix it till it is, right? A: "It's a typical, unhelpful government solution." B: "Right? A politician's motto must be, 'If it ain't broke, fix it till it is!'" A: "We don't really need to implement these ridiculous changes, do we? Our current method is working just fine." B: "Well, you know how management operates—if it ain't broke, fix it till it is."
See also: fix, if, till
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
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References in periodicals archive
Some say if it ain't broke don't fix it - with a million in poverty and 1 in 5 Scots children affected by poverty (it's 1 in 10 in Norway & Denmark) - it's broken.
Scottish Yes best for all on these islands; LETTERS
The likes of All Over The World and The Way It Used To Be don't deviate from formula (if it ain't broke, why fix it?) so it's the input from Last Shadow Puppetmaster Owen Pallett and Smiths legend Johnny Marr that makes the difference, adding a Western soundtrack feel to 60s-styled Beautiful People and fine finale Legacy.
music: YES Pet Shop Boys (Parlophone)
Many small to medium businesses (SMB) operate under the data protection philosophy of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." But something will inevitably happen: a disaster wipes out the backup tapes, or a critical database is permanently corrupted, or months of backups are useless because there was never an actual backup--only an error that repeated every night but no one ever knew until it was too late.
Business continuity in SMB: disaster recovery in the small-to-medium business space
When something is working, obviously you want it to keep on working and there is a tendency to say, "If it ain't broke ...
When the going gets tough ... the tough retreat
PALM belongs to the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" school, which explains why its latest Tungsten T3 handheld looks almost identical to every other recent top-range Palm.
Shiraz: PALM'S TOPS
"Some superintendents take an 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' approach.
To run lean, you must be clean: good machine hygiene is a key to efficient machine operations
The old saying, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," may not necessarily hold true for today's continuous quality improvement effort.
Does your facility have a quality-oriented culture?
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