Meanings
- figurativelyIf you damage, harm or destroy something, you are responsible for repairing it or accepting the consequences.
In perhaps history's greatest instance of “you break it, you buy it,” the wartime imperial government bought millions of gallons of unused vodka.
2010, Mark Lawrence Schrad, The Political Power of Bad Ideas: Networks, Institutions,, page 1311 more example
Diplomats need to make it clear that we completely eschew the "you break it, you buy it” rule. In the future, we'll break it if others force us to.
2011, Anna Simmons, Joe McGraw, Duane Lauchengco, The Sovereignty Solution: A Common Sense Approach to Global Security, page 140
Origin
From the Pottery Barn rule – a policy by which a retail store may hold a customer responsible for damage done to products or merchandise on display –, usually phrased in this manner.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
you break it, you buy it. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/you%20break%20it%2C%20you%20buy%20it
“you break it, you buy it.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/you%20break%20it%2C%20you%20buy%20it. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “you break it, you buy it,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/you%20break%20it%2C%20you%20buy%20it.
Source: you break it, you buy it on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.