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.
Origin of Even a Broken Clock if Right Twice a Day
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.
From Literature: Paulo Coelho: One of the most famous modern applications of this phrase comes from acclaimed novelist Paulo Coelho, who beautifully expanded on the forgiving philosophy behind the idiom, writing: “Nothing in the world is ever completely wrong. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.”
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Movie and Television Citations
From Darkest Hour (2017): In this Oscar-winning historical drama, King George VI (played by Ben Mendelsohn) is initially highly skeptical of Winston Churchill’s volatile leadership style. When an advisor reminds the King of one of Churchill’s past political successes, the King dismissively replies, “Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.”
From The Sopranos: Mob boss Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) was famous for constantly misusing or relying on common idioms to explain his worldview. In the series, he famously uses the phrase “Even a broken clock is right twice a day” to justify listening to advice from a notoriously unreliable and greedy family member.