that’s the way the cookie crumbles —(also: that’s the way the ball bounces) that’s the way things happen (used with the implication that there are some things that we cannot control and have to accept):
- One can’t help but feel a certain amount of sadness at the change in state of affairs, but I guess that’s the way the cookie crumbles.
that’s the way the cow eats the cabbage—is used when telling another person some harsh or unpleasant truth that he probably doesn’t want to hear:
- He is fully aware of my rules, one blunder and he is off the boat. That’s the way the cow eats the cabbage.