have seen this movie

English

Pronunciation

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Verb

have seen this movie (third-person singular simple present has seen this movie, present participle having seen this movie, simple past and past participle had seen this movie)

1. (idiomatic) To have experienced a situation which is the same as or similar to the current situation, especially with a sense of the unpleasantness or tiresomeness of the recurring situation.
   • 2008 June 23, Amy Sullivan, “Will Pro-Choice Women Back McCain?”, in Time, retrieved 6 February 2017:

     The 2008 presidential race may have been branded a "change" election, but abortion rights advocates have seen this movie before.

   • 2013 November 28, John R. Allen, Michael E. O'Hanlon, “Ignore Karzai's Arrogant Insults”, in New York Times, retrieved 6 February 2017:

     After the defeat of the Soviets in 1989, civil war, state collapse and Taliban victory followed. The Afghan people have seen this movie already.

   • 2014 January 27, Louise Armitstead, “Tide going out on emerging markets, warns Fidelity”, in Telegraph, UK, retrieved 6 February 2017:

     Dominic Rossi, global chief investment officer at Fidelity, said […] “We have seen this movie before. […] One emerging market country after another gets left stranded.”

   • 2018 June 13, Bryce Covert, quoting Angela Kapp, “The Demise of Toys 'R' Us Is a Warning”, in The Atlantic‎^[1], →ISSN:

     After bringing in a new management team that made changes such as upgrading the quality of the company’s products and tailoring them to its customer base, the firm helped it go public. It now has the most stores of any U.S. retail chain. Firms “bring resources and capabilities and [have]^[sic] seen the movie before,” Kapp said.

Usage notes

• Often followed by before or already.

See also

• been there, done that