better than punishment, not as bad as it could be, don't knock it "When I told him we had won $10 in the Lotto, he said, ""It's better than a kick in the ass."""
BETTER THAN A KICK IN THE ASS [B]
Meaning of BETTER THAN A KICK IN THE ASS [B] in English
English idioms vocab. Словарь английских идиом и выражений. 2012