# "Like it or lump it": do you know what this phrase means? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 18, 2012, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/like-it-or-lump-it-do-you-know-what-this-phrase-means/619215 "2012-04-18T23:13:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/like-it-or-lump-it-do-you-know-what-this-phrase-means/619215/1 "2012-04-18T23:13:42Z")
I used the phrase “like it or lump it” with my husband a few minutes ago, and he was unfamiliar with it. Actually, I started out saying, “Can I get this other option, or do I have to lump it?” When he expressed confusion, I said, “You know, like it or lump it?” He still didn’t recognize it. This is something we said all the time when I was growing up in Ohio. Are you familiar, and where are you? ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/like-it-or-lump-it-do-you-know-what-this-phrase-means/619215/2 "2012-04-18T23:17:21Z")
Los Angeles native, and completely unfamiliar with it. But you probably knew that. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/like-it-or-lump-it-do-you-know-what-this-phrase-means/619215/3 "2012-04-18T23:21:21Z")
Familiar. All over, I’m from. TX, CA, CO, KY, TN, OK, IA, LA, TX, TX, TX … . ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/like-it-or-lump-it-do-you-know-what-this-phrase-means/619215/4 "2012-04-18T23:23:01Z")
Middle-aged, East Coast, certainly have heard it. ---
**Author:** ![Crab\_Rangoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Crab\_Rangoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crab_Rangoon)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/like-it-or-lump-it-do-you-know-what-this-phrase-means/619215/5 "2012-04-18T23:24:13Z")
I’ve heard it since I was little: mid-forties Maine. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/like-it-or-lump-it-do-you-know-what-this-phrase-means/619215/6 "2012-04-18T23:25:22Z")
NY, old. I’ve heard it and may have even said it. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/like-it-or-lump-it-do-you-know-what-this-phrase-means/619215/7 "2012-04-18T23:26:31Z")
Australia. Familiar with it; heard it many, many times. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Il_Palazzo)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/like-it-or-lump-it-do-you-know-what-this-phrase-means/619215/8 "2012-04-18T23:28:33Z")
Mid-20s, DC metro area. I’ve heard it and know what it means, but it isn’t especially common around here. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2012, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/like-it-or-lump-it-do-you-know-what-this-phrase-means/619215/9 "2012-04-18T23:32:52Z")
UK, know it well. ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/like-it-or-lump-it-do-you-know-what-this-phrase-means/619215/10 "2012-04-19T00:02:51Z")
Michigan, know what it means. Although now that you’ve brought it up, I never thought about where the “lump it” part comes from. I guess I’m not sure. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/like-it-or-lump-it-do-you-know-what-this-phrase-means/619215/11 "2012-04-19T00:06:04Z")
I started hearing it in the 1970s in central Indiana. It may have been there before, but that’s when I remember it being used frequently. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/like-it-or-lump-it-do-you-know-what-this-phrase-means/619215/12 "2012-04-19T00:06:54Z")
Middle-aged, from the Midwest, know it - though “lump it” alone might have thrown me off. ---
**Author:** ![PandaBear77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@PandaBear77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PandaBear77)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/like-it-or-lump-it-do-you-know-what-this-phrase-means/619215/13 "2012-04-19T00:08:17Z")
Heard it all my life. Grew up in KY. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/like-it-or-lump-it-do-you-know-what-this-phrase-means/619215/14 "2012-04-19T00:23:59Z")
> [@Lord\_Mondegreen](#): > > Australia. Familiar with it; heard it many, many times. +1 Eta: My SO knows it too, so that’s a yes from the UK too. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/like-it-or-lump-it-do-you-know-what-this-phrase-means/619215/15 "2012-04-19T00:24:32Z")
I grew up in Minnesota in the '60s and am familiar with the phrase, but I think it was more from reading than actually hearing it used. Hard to say, really. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/like-it-or-lump-it-do-you-know-what-this-phrase-means/619215/16 "2012-04-19T00:42:49Z")
UK also, so just adding another data point to say that it’s a completely ordinary phrase to me. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/like-it-or-lump-it-do-you-know-what-this-phrase-means/619215/17 "2012-04-19T00:55:53Z")
Raised near LA. Currently in the northern central valley. In my fifties. Used to hear it fairly often, but not so much recently. Wondering if the bumper shicker “America: Love It or Leave It” took some of the wind out of its sails. ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/like-it-or-lump-it-do-you-know-what-this-phrase-means/619215/18 "2012-04-19T01:01:15Z")
> **[English Idioms in Use Advanced with Answers](https://books.google.ca/books?id=1n__mWpluMsC&pg=PA10&dq=%22like%2Bit%2Bor%2Blump%2Bit%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=NmOPT8WLM8amiQL0grTwAg&redir_esc=y)** > > This book presents and practises over 1000 of the most useful and frequent idioms in typical contexts. This reference and practice book looks at the most colourful and fun area of English vocabulary - idioms. This book will appeal to students at... ^^^ That will show a book using the phrase as an example of something you could look up. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/like-it-or-lump-it-do-you-know-what-this-phrase-means/619215/19 "2012-04-19T01:31:05Z")
NY in the 60s. It was a common phrase. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/like-it-or-lump-it-do-you-know-what-this-phrase-means/619215/20 "2012-04-19T01:37:59Z")
Ohio native, living in the Northeast, here: Common term both places. No idea about the etymology of “lump” in this context, though. More fully: “If you don’t like it you can lump it / Take it down the road and dump it.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/like-it-or-lump-it-do-you-know-what-this-phrase-means/619215.md?page=2)