that's how the ball bounces

Idioms and Phrases

Also, that's the way the ball bounces or the cookie crumbles . That is the way matters have worked out and nothing can be done about it. For example, I'm sorry you got fired but that's how the ball bounces , or They wanted a baby girl but got a third boy—that's the way the cookie crumbles . These phrases allude to an odd bounce or a crumbled cookie that cannot be put back together. [ Colloquial ; mid-1900s]