let bygones be bygones
Preserved but no longer current.
Don't rake up old and dead grievances. Let me entreat you to let the dead bury the dead, to cast behind you every recollection of bygone evils, and to cherish, to love, to sustain one another through all the vicissitudes of human affairs in the times that are to come — GLADSTONE: Home Rule Bill (February 13th, 1893).
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “let bygones be bygones” mean?
Don't rake up old and dead grievances. Let me entreat you to let the dead bury the dead, to cast behind you every recollection of bygone evils, and to cherish, to love, to sustain one another through all the vicissitudes of human affairs in the times that are to come — GLADSTONE: Home Rule Bill (February 13th, 1893).
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.