If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime

If you can't do the time, don't do the crime means If you can't accept the consequences of breaking the law, don't break the law.
“Get this and get it straight! Crime is a sucker’s road, and those who travel it wind up in the gutter, the prison or the grave. There’s no other way, but they never learn.” (Introduction to The Adventures of Philip Marlowe)

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English Expression: If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime

If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime is an expression often said to criminals who don’t want to go to jail.

It comes from common sense.


If you can’t accept the consequences of doing something wrong, you shouldn’t have done it in the first place.


In this expression, ‘time’ means spending time in jail. It’s often shortened to you do the crime, you do the time.

People like to use this phrase because it rhymes (crime, time) and has a nice rhythm to it: you do the crime (four syllables), you do the time (four syllables).

It is another way of saying that you get what you deserve: people who break the law go to jail.

Criminals and their punishments are often topics of debate in any society.

Citizens don’t want criminals to get off easy.

Regular people want to see criminals receive appropriate punishment for the wrongs that they have done.


This post is understandable by someone with at least a 7th-grade education (age 12).  

On the Flesch-Kincaid reading-ease test, this post scores 79.  

The easier a passage is to read, the higher the score on a scale of 0 – 100.



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