what's done is done

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There is no changing something; it's finished or final. For example, I forgot to include my dividend income in my tax return but what's done is done—I've already mailed the form. This expression uses done in the sense of “ended” or “settled,” a usage dating from the first half of the 1400s.

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QUIZ YOURSELF ON AFFECT VS. EFFECT!

In effect, this quiz will prove whether or not you have the skills to know the difference between “affect” and “effect.”

Question 1 of 7

The rainy weather could not ________ my elated spirits on my graduation day.

affect

effect

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Words nearby what's done is done

what makes one tick, whatnot, what of it?, what's, what's cooking, what's done is done, what's eating you, What's good for the country is good for General Motors, and vice versa, What's good for the goose is good for the gander, What's in a name? That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet, whatsis

Example sentences from the Web for what's done is done

But the other thing that needs to be done is for us citizens to do.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Our Duty Is to Keep Charlie Hebdo Alive|Ayaan Hirsi Ali|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Newspapers around Europe have also done so in solidarity with the slain.
Why We Stand With Charlie Hebdo—And You Should Too|John Avlon|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Neither the Republican nor the Democratic party have done anything to consistently target Asian- American voters.
Asian-Americans Are The New Florida|Tim Mak|January 8, 2015|DAILY BEAST
He made clear that he fully appreciated what the cops had done.
Shot Down During the NYPD Slowdown|Michael Daly|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST

Because I was going more on about how things had already been done.
Patton Oswalt on Fighting Conservatives With Satire|William O’Connor|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
You need but will, and it is done; but if you relax your efforts, you will be ruined; for ruin and recovery are both from within.
Pearls of Thought|Maturin M. Ballou
Done, says he, why let fifty of our men advance, and flank them on each wing.
The Life and Most Surprising Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York, Mariner (1801)|Daniel Defoe
By the time I had done my toilette there was a tap at the door, and in another minute I was in the salle--manger.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 60, No. 372, October 1846|Various
And is this a mere fantastic talk, or is this a thing that could be done and that ought to be done?
The Salvaging Of Civilisation|H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
If it took years to do it, you shall never stir out of this house till it is done.
Checkmate|Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

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