not (one's) first rodeo
1
9.9
- idiom
- Informal
:
no es la primera vez
- Look, I appreciate you trying to get a lay of the land, but this ain't my first rodeo.
Examples
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Okay, T, this is obviously not my first rodeo, okay?
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It's not your first rodeo, woman.
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This is clearly not my first rodeo.
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Well, it's not my first rodeo.
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This is not my first rodeo, okay?
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I mean, this ain't your first rodeo.
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Hey, it's not my first rodeo, Sherlock.
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This is not my first rodeo, Sarge.
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This ain't my first rodeo.
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This is clearly not my first rodeo, so I know what to expect.
Synonyms
To know how to handle hard situations
To gain first experience in a job or activity
Antonyms
How Experienced
Surface Forms
Morphology
The literal parts ('first' + 'rodeo') give a clear clue about 'first time at an event', so a learner might infer it refers to not being new; however the use of 'rodeo' as a metaphor for any activity is culturally specific and requires pragmatic/cultural knowledge. Because the overall meaning ('experienced, not new to something') is an extended, partly metaphorical use of the constituents rather than a directly compositional sense, it is only partially predictable for a B1 learner.
Etymology
Not (one's) first rodeo comes from real rodeos, where riders who had been there before knew how to handle wild horses and rough crowds. So saying someone is not their first rodeo creates the image of a person who has done the job before and means 'experienced' or 'not new'.