Even a Broken Clock Is Right Twice a Day

Also used:

even a stopped clock is right twice a day
even a broken watch is right twice a day

Meaning of Idiom ‘Even a Broken Clock Is Right Twice a Day’

Even a broken clock is right twice a day is a proverb that means that even a person who is usually wrong can sometimes be right by chance or accident; no one is wrong all the time.

When we use ‘even a broken/stopped clock is right twice a day’ as an idiom, we are explaining that just because a person is right once doesn’t mean they are correct about everything. When someone is a source of misinformation and says a lot of incorrect things, they may be right, at times, simply be accident, but this doesn’t mean we should rely on anything else they say.

In other words, even an ignorant, unintelligent, or uneducated person can be right sometimes.

This idiom is sometimes shortened to ‘broken clock’ or ‘the proverbial broken clock’ and used to describe someone who happens to be right on occasion. Other variations are possible and this proverbial idiom can be used in many ways.

Sentence Examples

“I know you don’t like him but he was right about what he said in his podcast the other day.” “Yeah, even a broken clock is right twice a day.”

“You should listen to me. Remember I was right about your car trouble.” “Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.”

“We have decrypted a number of German messages by analyzing the frequency of letter distribution.” “Oh, even a broken clock is right twice a day. That-That’s not progress; that’s just blind luck.” The Imitation Game (2014)

“They say even a broken clock is right twice a day, and if anybody was our family’s broken clock, it’s Sue.” The Middle: The Wonderful World of Hecks (2014)

Origin

The proverb, even a broken clock is right twice a day’ was well-known by the late 1800s. It appeared in 1893’s World’s Fair Puck in a slightly different form:

“Do not marvel that the “fossil’s” views are sometimes approved. Even the clock that is stopped, is right, twice a day.”

The proverb observes that the unmoving hands of a stopped or broken clock will display the correct time twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening. For example, if the clock is stopped at 6:30, it will show the correct time at 6:30 AM and 6:30 PM.