been there, done that

English

Etymology

Ellipsis for "I have been there and have done that".

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Phrase

been there, done that

1. (idiomatic, ironic) An assertion that the speaker has personal experience or knowledge of a particular place or topic and is not too keen on revisiting or redoing it again.

   No, I don't wanna go paragliding. Been there, done that. I found it awful.

   • 2012 May 31, Tasha Robinson, “Film: Review: Snow White And The Huntsman”, in The A.V. Club‎^[1]:

     Huntsman feints at being the Snow White retelling no one has ever seen before, but ultimately becomes the “been there, done that” of fairy-tale filmmaking.

   • 2013, Iris Smyles, Iris Has Free Time, Berkeley, CA: Counterpoint, →ISBN, page 7:

     He looked down at my résumé. “Wow, you interned at The New Yorker. Did you apply there?” ¶ “Nope.” ¶ He looked up. ¶ I gave the line a tug. ¶ “I just felt like, ‘been there, done that,’ you know? Also, I dated a few guys in the office so it would've been awkward.”

Derived terms

• been there, done that, bought the T-shirt

Translations

assertion that the speaker has personal experience or knowledge of a particular place or topic

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 曾經滄海難為水 / 曾经沧海难为水 (céngjīngcānghǎi nánwéi shuǐ)

• Dutch: al gezien al gedaan
• Finnish: se on nähty, kokemusta on
• French: déjà vu, déjà fait
• German: (hab ich) alles schon gemacht, ist für mich nichts neues
• Greek: ήταν εκεί, κάνει αυτό (ítan ekeí, kánei aftó)
• Hungarian: ez nekem már nem újdonság, ez nekem már megvolt, nekem ez nem új
• Italian: già visto, già fatto
• Japanese: 経験済み (keiken zumi)
• Portuguese: essa é velha
• Russian: я э́то уже́ ви́дел (ja éto užé vídel), э́то для меня́ не но́во (éto dlja menjá ne nóvo)
• Serbo-Croatian: bio, probao (informal)
• Spanish: yo lo hice antes, ya ir y volver