Participant first heard this phrase in 2024 from a friend who had heard it in a youtube video. They use it as a way to say “it is what it is”, and to move on from smaller problems or hardships. It has also been used as an inside joke, in the situation that something goes wrong when both of them are present.

Analysis: “Them’s the breaks” definitely has an origin from outside the internet, but its internet-origin is important to the meaning for these 2 friends. This is because this phrase has 2 purposes: to remind oneself to accept that mistakes can happen, and also of a shared joke. I think it also goes to show how quickly references can go from one-off jokes to longer-term shared speech.