if you can't lick them, join them

Alternative form of if you can't beat them, join them.

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Meanings

proverb
  1. alternativeAlternative form of if you can't beat them, join them.

    "It don't pay to worry and try to change the world," he pointed out. "I always say take things the way they are. If you can't lick 'em, join 'em."

    1958 May, Avram Davidson, “Or All The Seas With Oysters”, in Galaxy Science Fiction, page 58
Cite this entry
APA

if you can't lick them, join them. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/if%20you%20can't%20lick%20them%2C%20join%20them

MLA

“if you can't lick them, join them.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/if%20you%20can't%20lick%20them%2C%20join%20them. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “if you can't lick them, join them,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/if%20you%20can't%20lick%20them%2C%20join%20them.

Source: if you can't lick them, join them on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.