Meaning of Idiom ‘Same Old, Same Old’
The same old, same old is a standalone idiom used to refer to the boring, monotonous, predictable, and perhaps annoying situations, activities, or behaviors that occur every day; the same thing that is always done or that always happens.
The phrase is usually used to describe what one is doing on a day-to-day basis; how one is living his or her life.
It can also describe anything that is a repeat of whatever normally happens.
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Examples Of Use
“Hey, what you been up to lately?”
“Oh, same old same old. Just making a living.”
“There’s gridlock in the senate. Same old, same old.”
“We don’t need more of the same old, same old. Let’s go somewhere we’ve never been before.”
“What did you do this summer?”
“Same old same old. We went up to the cabin in Maine.”
Origin
Used since the 1970s, this idiom is probably an extension of the much older idiom ‘the same old thing’ which has a similar meaning: “What have you been doing? The same old thing.”
The present idiom uses reduplication as an intensifier, perhaps to underscore the boring nature or monotony of long repeated activities or situations.
Another theory is that the idiom came from pidgin English that arose from Japan or Korea after World War II, same-o, same-o, which meant something should remain the same.
The proposed origin of same-o, same-o is unclear and its connection to the present idiom is tenuous, at best.
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More Same Idioms
- Go Over the Same Old Ground
- In the Same Breath
- Cut From the Same Cloth
- In the Same Boat, all
- On the Same Page, to be
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