in the books
11
4.8
- idiom
:
registrado
- Well, our first reunion is officially in the books.
- name in the books
- season in the books
- still in the books
Examples
-
With their first loss of the season in the books, Oakland is ready to put it behind them.
Blog text (5) -
The game is officially in the books, marking the end of the season.
-
Oh well, Worst Company in America 2012 is officially in the books.
Blog text (10) -
Well, week 1 of the Amazon adventure is in the books.
Blog text (23) -
We gave it a shot, but that's the way it's gonna go down in the books.
-
Another Fantastic Fest was almost in the books, and as tired as I was, I didn't want it to end.
Blog text (27) -
With the final report submitted, the project is in the books and ready for review.
-
After the ceremony, our wedding plans are now in the books.
Synonyms
99
2.6
Someone writes it on paper or in a document instead of saying it
43
2.7
Information that an office or school keeps in an official record
Shares whose owner's name is written on the official list
Proved by written or official papers
Antonyms
How Final
- Formal
11
4.8
41
3.4
18
3.0
31
4.7
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'officially recorded or finalized' is directly derivable from the locative composition 'in' + 'the books' — i.e., something placed inside the (financial) books/records. This is a straightforward, compositional locative/metaphorical extension (inside the records = recorded) that is common cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would normally infer the meaning.
Etymology
In the books comes from old bookkeeping: when a sale, decision, or result was written down in the record books, it was fixed and finished. So today, saying something is in the books means it is 'officially recorded' or 'completed'.