burn that bridge when one comes to it

present singular third person burns that bridge when one comes to it · participle present burning that bridge when one comes to it · participle past burned that bridge when one came to it · past burned that bridge when one came to it · participle past burnt that bridge when one came to it · past burnt that bridge when one came to it

1. idiomaticTo anticipate dealing with a problem or situation either by acting in a manner that alienates or cuts ties with others, or merely with the expectation of encountering trouble.

   That takes care of Kay. As for the man, I'll burn that bridge when I come to it.

   1941, Frank Leslie eds. et al., The American Magazine, volume 132, page 44

   4 more examples

   ...when the time came in making the inevitable break. Well — he'd burn that bridge when he came to it.

   1950, David Albert Davidson, In Another Country, page 204

   Tonight the happy couple were to sleep at Dyer House, as generations of Dukes and their Duchesses had before them, but — as Wessex's partner often said — they would burn that bridge when they came to it.

   1999, Andre Norton, Rosemary Edghill, The Shadow of Albion, page 168

   “We can't do anything about that now. Emma, we'll burn that bridge when we come to it, okay?”

   2010, Jessica Beck, Fatally Frosted: A Donut Shop Mystery, page 62

   Clients often whistled a different tune at a later date, but one could burn that bridge when one came to it.

   2015, Lawrence Block, Defender of the Innocent: The Casebook of Martin Ehrengraf, page 110