old chestnut
old chestnut · old chestnuts
A well-worn storyA well-worn story.
» In front of our house are two old chestnuts.
Vor unserem Haus stehen zwei alte Kastanien. — Oblomov
Joutsentaika · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRMeaning
1 senses(idiomatic)A well-worn story.
Examples
1 sentencesIn front of our house are two old chestnuts.
deVor unserem Haus stehen zwei alte Kastanien. — Oblomov
Origin
Originally as chestnut, with “old” for emphasis. Popularized US 1880s, particularly NortheOriginally as chestnut, with “old” for emphasis. Popularized US 1880s, particularly Northeast and Midwest, with various theories propounded.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Dictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.