"It all comes out in the wash"

[christmastreewithhairyfairy]

What does this phrase mean to you?

I've been saying it for decades but just googled it and if the internet is correct I've been using it wrong! So I wanted to canvas the wise vipers of mn

Yes, me too.

Me too. Maybe I’ve been using it wrongly too but I’ve heard others use it in that context (it gets said often at work when we’re debating which way to do something and decide it doesn’t matter because ‘it all comes out in the wash’ i.e.the end result is the same). Nobody’s ever looked confused when I’ve used it in that context either!

This.

Found this. Looks like both ways are in common use:

1. No permanent or lasting effects will occur as a result; things will normalize over time.I wouldn't worry too much about processing the invoice incorrectly; I'm sure it'll all come out in the wash.A: "Do you think Mark hates me after what I said at the party?" B: "Nah, it'll all come out in the wash."Don't worry about paying me back for dinner. It'll all come out in the wash eventually.
2. A lie or other secret will be uncovered eventually. Whatever the mayor is trying to cover up, it'll all come out in the wash.

That the truth always reveals itself eventually

I always thought it meant - "The dirt etc will come out in the wash" which meant any secret/ something that is trying to be hidden will come out.

This for me

I wouldn't worry too much about processing the invoice incorrectly
Who ever says that!!!!??? I'd sack them immediately.

Me too and I’m sure it does mean that

Ahhh you gotta love the English language - it's so wonderfully varied and ambiguous

I’ve always thought it to meant it will all work out in the end, one way or another. It’s why things we were worrying ourselves sick about twenty years ago we don’t even remember now.

I've recently said it to someone at work and it now worried it sounds like I was threatening them when it was meant to be reassuring, doh

I always took it to mean that the truth will come out in the end
Something along the lines of a family secret etc,
An adult child finding out their sister is actually their mum, Dad is not the bio dad etc.
It was a saying my late mother and grandmother used to use frequently, usually when they were gossiping about somebody 😉

It has always been used by everyone I know to mean that secrets will eventually reveal themselves, you will get caught in a lie.

It's all about context. When you're upset about something that will probably be fine but it feels huge, it means that it'll all be ok in the end. When there's dishonesty or secrecy it means that these things all come out eventually.

But generally it means something negative will not stay in the same state it currently is indefinitely.

It seems there are different meanings across the internet! But this is correct, to me.

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/come-out-in-the-wash

It’ll all be alright in the end.

I’d say it means the same as swings and roundabouts. I.e. you win some, you lose some. It will even itself out.

The truth will out is much more menacing!

I've only ever heard - or used - it in the sense of 'what may seem like significant issues (particularly differences) now are probably not that significant in the long run'. (e.g. to people fretting about their baby not walking until 18 months when their SIL's was running around at 9 months, that sort of thing).

I always thought that it meant that the truth will come out eventually

Same, this is how I use it.

To me it means the truth will eventually come out

The truth will come out eventually

Using it to mean that the truth will out doesn't make any sense to me. If you put something dirty in the wash and it comes out clean then the dirt has disappeared, nobody would ever know it's been there. If you're using dirt as a metaphor for a secret, then it being washed away is the complete opposite of it being being revealed.

Yes, this is why using it in that way doesn’t make sense to me!