Meanings
Found as early as 1837, in Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens, where it appears in the form, “It’s a reg’lar holiday to them—all porter and skittles”. The most common form, as a negative admonition, appears to have been popularized by Thomas Hughes in Tom Brown's School Days (1857, see quotation below).
How to pronounce "beer and skittles":
AU
Fun times; pleasure and leisure.
Example Sentences
1
Life isn't always beer and skittles.
2
Don't just assume that retirement will be all beer and skittles.
3
They thought the new job would be beer and skittles, but they were wrong.
4
The holiday seemed like beer and skittles until the rain started.
5
Winning the lottery doesn't make life automatically beer and skittles.