let bygones be bygones
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Forgive and forget past offences.
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Tha thứ và quên đi những tội lỗi trong quá khứ
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
Er we've all got to be friends in a situation let bygones be bygones sort of.
Although the book ended on a positive note in that the enemy's group leader tried to let bygones be bygones.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed on Wikipedia “List of proverbial phrases” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Metaphor (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Common questions
What does “let bygones be bygones” mean?
Forgive and forget past offences.
Is “let bygones be bygones” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.