done deal
Related to done deal: Buy and Sell
a done deal
Something that has been decided or finalized. Once we sign those papers, the sale of the house will be a done deal. I had no idea I'd have to make more payments to receive the merchandise—I thought it was a done deal!
See also: deal, done
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
done deal
An irrevocable agreement, as in Once you've signed the lease, it's a done deal. This slangy expression, first recorded in 1979, may have come from done thing, originating in the late 1600s.
See also: deal, done
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
done deal
n. a completed deal; something that is settled. The sale of the property is a done deal. There is nothing that can be changed now.
See also: deal, done
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
done deal, a
An irreversible agreement, a final decision or compact. This relatively new synonym for the long-used fait accompli dates only from the late 1970s, but according to William Safire, it had a near predecessor in a done thing. The latter surfaced about 1700, and Dickens used it: “It was a done thing between him and Scrooge’s nephew” (A Christmas Carol, 1843). The current cliché is also often used in the negative (not a done deal), as in “We can interview another architect; it’s not a done deal, you know.”
See also: done
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- a done deal
- done deal, a
- done and done
- give (one) pause for thought
- give pause for thought
- give pause to (one)
- give pause to someone
- gazumph
- I'd as leave do
- I'd as soon do