take the rough with the smooth

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take the rough with the smooth

To accept both the negative and positive aspects of something. The phrase is typically used in an acknowledgement that nothing is perfect. When it comes to this job, you have to take the rough with the smooth. It's hard, but it's worth it. Marriage can be a wonderfully fulfilling part of life, but it certainly presents its own challenges—you just have to take the rough with the smooth.

See also: rough, smooth, take

Take the rough with the smooth.

Prov. Accept difficult as well as easy times. Don't give up on your business just because you lost money this month. You have to take the rough with the smooth.

See also: rough, smooth, take

take the rough with the smooth

Accept the bad along with the good, as in You can't expect to close a lot of sales every week-you have to take the rough with the smooth . This adage was first recorded about 1400. Also see take the bitter with the sweet.

See also: rough, smooth, take

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

take the rough with the smooth

BRITISH

If you take the rough with the smooth, you accept the bad parts of a situation as well as the good parts. Of course there'll be difficult times in a relationship — you have to take the rough with the smooth.

See also: rough, smooth, take

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

take the rough with the smooth

accept the difficult or unpleasant aspects of life as well as the good.

See also: rough, smooth, take

take the ˌrough with the ˈsmooth

accept the unpleasant part of something as well as the pleasant: It certainly isn’t all fun and games when you’re a student, but you have to learn to take the rough with the smooth.

See also: rough, smooth, take

take the rough with the smooth, to

Accept the bad with as much equanimity as the good. This adage dates from the fifteenth century. The unknown author of the Tale of Beryn (ca. 1400) stated it as “Take your part as it comyth, of roughe and eke of smooth.” See also take the bitter with the sweet.