so be it
45
5.1
- idiom
- Formal
:
que así sea
- If that meant an adverse court ruling, so be it.
- then so be it
- "so be it," said
- well, so be it
OK, if my truth was shade, so be it.
- OK, if my truth was shade, so be it.
- So if someone wants to throw my pasta bro, so be it.
- If things don't work out and he doesn't pay it back, so be it.
- Still wouldn't be my choice, but that's all you got and so be it.
- If she microwaves it then slaps you with it, so be it.
- If that's what you're on and you're generally OK with that, so be it.
- If it's a great deal and you miss it, so be it.
- If it's honestly, if you have harmony despite those things, so be it.
- Yeah, but what if someone says, look, my what I do can't be rushed, then so be it.
- You know, if that's what it's going to be, if that's going to be the height of where my career goes, so be it.
- And so to the extent that the other countries, IE Great Britain, it can benefit, then so be it.
- I want to be playing at the highest level level possible and whenever that time comes then so be it.
Examples
-
Well, if that makes me sensitive and compassionate, then so be it.
-
So be it!
-
"If you have no help for me, so be it."
Fiction book (1995) -
If it's not your taste, so be it and move on.
Blog text (1) -
If I have to lose my titles and millions of dollars, so be it.
Fiction book (1998) -
Look, I'm not happy about it, but if it keeps Patty off my back, so be it.
Fiction book (2002) -
So be it.
-
If others should find that appraisal shallow, frivolous, so be it.
Fiction book (1990) -
If the process was painful, so be it—everything worth doing was painful.
Academic text (2011) -
If my life is the cost, so be it.
Synonyms
33
4.1
Accept a situation without trying to change it
5
6.8
To accept an unpleasant situation without complaining
3
8.8
Accept something unpleasant without complaining
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
so + be + it
The phrase literally strings together 'so' (in that way), 'be' (exist/occur) and 'it' (that situation), so there is a clear compositional relation to the idea 'let it be so'. However, the expression is a fixed, somewhat formal idiom using an archaic subjunctive sense of 'be' and carries a pragmatic meaning of resigned acceptance that a B1 learner who only knows the component words may not reliably infer without prior exposure.
Etymology
So be it comes from an older phrase 'let it be so' that people used in prayers or when a decision was final. The image is someone closing a matter and saying 'let this happen', so So be it now means calm 'acceptance' of a situation.