let bygones be bygones

present singular third person lets bygones be bygones · participle present letting bygones be bygones

1. idiomaticintransitiveTo disregard or ignore a past difficulty in a relationship or an offence (when dealing with another individual).

   But I ain't got no quarrel witcha. Just let bygones be bygones.

   1992, Ethel Footman Smothers, “Let Bygones Be Bygones”, in Down in the Piney Woods (A Borzoi Book), New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, →ISBN, page 145

   3 more examples

   "Never mind, I'll give you a hundred dollars for it," said the king; "you did me out of horse and saddle the other day, and the bridle too, but I'll let bygones be bygones, if I get the pot."

   1881, P. Chr. Asbjörnsen [i.e., Peter Christen Asbjørnsen], “Peik”, in H. L. Brækstad, transl., Round the Yule Log. Norwegian Folk and Fairy Tales, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, →OCLC, page 196

   To intrude as little of his personality as possible upon a gay event with which that personality could show nothing in keeping, he decided not to make his appearance till evening—when stiffness would have worn off, and a gentle wish to let bygones be bygones would exercise its say in all hearts.

   1886 May, Thomas Hardy, chapter 44, in The Life and Death of the Mayor of Casterbridge: The Story of a Man of Character, London: The Folio Society, published 1968 (1996 printing), →OCLC, page 323

   You'll find, when you come back, I promise you, Kit, that everyone is willing to let bygones be bygones, and that you can make a fresh start.

   1958, Elizabeth George Speare, chapter 20, in The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Company, published 1986, →ISBN, pages 228–229

   Synonyms: forgive and forget