See this is why we can't have nice things in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
{ "etymology_text": "Said to have been popularized by American stand-up comedian Paula Poundstone.", "head_templates": [ { "args": { "1": "en", "2": "phrase" }, "expansion": "this is why we can't have nice things", "name": "head" } ], "lang": "English", "lang_code": "en", "pos": "phrase", "senses": [ { "categories": [ { "kind": "other", "name": "English entries with incorrect language header", "parents": [ "Entries with incorrect language header", "Entry maintenance" ], "source": "w" }, { "kind": "other", "name": "Pages with 1 entry", "parents": [], "source": "w" }, { "kind": "other", "name": "Pages with entries", "parents": [], "source": "w" } ], "examples": [ { "ref": "2016, Jen Swann Downey, The Ninja Librarians: Sword in the Stacks:", "text": "\"This is why we can't have nice things,\" said Dorrie's father, breaking into her thoughts. \"Like appliances.\"\nDorrie glanced over at the corner of the ballroom-declared-kitchen to see him lifting several tacks out of a pot of clam chowder with a slotted spoon.", "type": "quote" }, { "ref": "2017, Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff (lyrics and music), “This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things”, in Reputation, performed by Taylor Swift:", "text": "This is why we can't have nice things, darling / Because you break them, I had to take them away / This is why we can't have nice things, honey, oh / Did you think I wouldn't hear all the things you said about me? / This is why we can't have nice things", "type": "quote" }, { "ref": "2020, Alex Almeida, Wandering Tales volumes 1 & 2:", "text": "\"This is why we can't have nice things,\" said a Mountain to a man, \"You don't yet respect the impermanence of living ...and the permanence of life.\"", "type": "quote" } ], "glosses": [ "Expressing reproach when somebody harms or damages something." ], "id": "en-this_is_why_we_can't_have_nice_things-en-phrase-lS5mhv8K", "links": [ [ "humorous", "humorous" ], [ "reproach", "reproach" ], [ "harm", "harm" ], [ "damage", "damage" ] ], "raw_glosses": [ "(humorous) Expressing reproach when somebody harms or damages something." ], "tags": [ "humorous" ], "wikipedia": [ "Paula Poundstone" ] } ], "word": "this is why we can't have nice things" }
{ "etymology_text": "Said to have been popularized by American stand-up comedian Paula Poundstone.", "head_templates": [ { "args": { "1": "en", "2": "phrase" }, "expansion": "this is why we can't have nice things", "name": "head" } ], "lang": "English", "lang_code": "en", "pos": "phrase", "senses": [ { "categories": [ "English entries with incorrect language header", "English humorous terms", "English lemmas", "English multiword terms", "English phrases", "English terms with quotations", "Pages with 1 entry", "Pages with entries", "Quotation templates to be cleaned" ], "examples": [ { "ref": "2016, Jen Swann Downey, The Ninja Librarians: Sword in the Stacks:", "text": "\"This is why we can't have nice things,\" said Dorrie's father, breaking into her thoughts. \"Like appliances.\"\nDorrie glanced over at the corner of the ballroom-declared-kitchen to see him lifting several tacks out of a pot of clam chowder with a slotted spoon.", "type": "quote" }, { "ref": "2017, Taylor Swift, Jack Antonoff (lyrics and music), “This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things”, in Reputation, performed by Taylor Swift:", "text": "This is why we can't have nice things, darling / Because you break them, I had to take them away / This is why we can't have nice things, honey, oh / Did you think I wouldn't hear all the things you said about me? / This is why we can't have nice things", "type": "quote" }, { "ref": "2020, Alex Almeida, Wandering Tales volumes 1 & 2:", "text": "\"This is why we can't have nice things,\" said a Mountain to a man, \"You don't yet respect the impermanence of living ...and the permanence of life.\"", "type": "quote" } ], "glosses": [ "Expressing reproach when somebody harms or damages something." ], "links": [ [ "humorous", "humorous" ], [ "reproach", "reproach" ], [ "harm", "harm" ], [ "damage", "damage" ] ], "raw_glosses": [ "(humorous) Expressing reproach when somebody harms or damages something." ], "tags": [ "humorous" ], "wikipedia": [ "Paula Poundstone" ] } ], "word": "this is why we can't have nice things" }
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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). 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.
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