bad things come in threes

/ɡˈʊd bˈad θˈɪŋz kˈʌm ɪn θɹˈiːz/

/ɡˈʊd bˈæd θˈɪŋz kˈʌm ɪn θɹˈiːz/

used to suggest that misfortune or bad luck often happens in groups of three, and when one negative event occurs, two more will follow

Examples

1. I spilled coffee on my shirt, got caught in the rain, and missed my bus this morning - it seems like bad things come in threes.

2. When you combine our western preference for trilogies with the human tendencies for apophenia and confirmation bias, you get the belief that bad things come in threes.