"if you can't do the time, don't do the crime" meaning in English

See if you can't do the time, don't do the crime in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Proverb

Etymology: From do time (“to serve a prison sentence”). Etymology templates: {{m|en|do time|t=to serve a prison sentence}} do time (“to serve a prison sentence”) Head templates: {{head|en|proverb|head=}} if you can't do the time, don't do the crime, {{en-proverb}} if you can't do the time, don't do the crime
  1. One should not carry out an action if one is unwilling to handle the consequences. Categories (topical): Crime, Prison, Time Related terms: crime doesn't pay
    Sense id: en-if_you_can't_do_the_time,_don't_do_the_crime-en-proverb-KKnh98xf Categories (other): English entries with language name categories using raw markup, English proverbs, English terms with non-redundant non-automated sortkeys

Download JSON data for if you can't do the time, don't do the crime meaning in English (2.0kB)

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        "t": "to serve a prison sentence"
      },
      "expansion": "do time (“to serve a prison sentence”)",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From do time (“to serve a prison sentence”).",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
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        "head": ""
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      "expansion": "if you can't do the time, don't do the crime",
      "name": "head"
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    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "if you can't do the time, don't do the crime",
      "name": "en-proverb"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
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        {
          "kind": "topical",
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          "name": "Crime",
          "orig": "en:Crime",
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            "Justice",
            "Fundamental"
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        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Prison",
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          "parents": [
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            "Law enforcement",
            "Buildings and structures",
            "Crime prevention",
            "Emergency services",
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            "Criminal law",
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          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "topical",
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          "name": "Time",
          "orig": "en:Time",
          "parents": [
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "One should not carry out an action if one is unwilling to handle the consequences."
      ],
      "id": "en-if_you_can't_do_the_time,_don't_do_the_crime-en-proverb-KKnh98xf",
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "crime doesn't pay"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "if you can't do the time, don't do the crime"
}
{
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    {
      "args": {
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      },
      "expansion": "do time (“to serve a prison sentence”)",
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  "etymology_text": "From do time (“to serve a prison sentence”).",
  "head_templates": [
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      "args": {
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      "expansion": "if you can't do the time, don't do the crime",
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  "pos": "proverb",
  "related": [
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      "word": "crime doesn't pay"
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        "en:Crime",
        "en:Prison",
        "en:Time"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "One should not carry out an action if one is unwilling to handle the consequences."
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "if you can't do the time, don't do the crime"
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-17 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-01 using wiktextract (0b52755 and 5cb0836). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.