play the same tape

present singular third person plays the same tape · participle present playing the same tape · participle past played the same tape · past played the same tape

1. idiomaticTo repeat exactly what one previously said or did.

   2001 August 29, Matthew Jukes, "A German gem", The Daily Telegraph, available, There are things some people might wish to alter about [the restaurant] Die Jägerhütte (for myself, they could play the same tape for months and I still wouldn't slap a thigh).

   3 more examples

   I married a man much like my controlling stepfather. We tend to play the same tape until we see who we are.

   2002, Mary Virginia Hall, Loving Is a Gift, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 17

   All they do in church is play the same tape over and over. I could recite that stuff by heart.

   2007, Gary Chapman, Catherine Palmer, It Happens Every Spring, Tyndale House, →ISBN, page 54

   We met a staff member, Pat, from Senator Dole's office first.... We had our message clear and crisp. We gave a couple of examples... . We indicated... . We talked about... . We thanked Pat and, as we walked to Senator Burr's office, congratulated each other... . We had a very good meeting with John from Senator Burr's office and played the same tape from our earlier meeting.

   2008 January, Sastry G. Pantula, “My Trip to the Hill”, in Notices of the American Mathematical Society, volume 55, number 1, page 56