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Glite Dictionary
to chalk it up to experience

to chalk it up to experience

1 7.2
To accept a mistake as a lesson
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : tomarlo como una experiencia
  • When her project didn't succeed, she chose to chalk it up to experience rather than dwell on her failure.

Examples

  • And we'll forget all about today, chalk it up to experience.

    The Whole Shootin' Match (1979)

  • Guess I can chalk it up to experience.

    Blog text (27)

  • Let's chalk it up to experience, okay?

    Deep (2017)

  • The choices we all make in life should be unabridged to the point that if we make a mistake, we chalk it up to life experience, and if we make the right choice, we prosper.

    Blog text (12)

  • After making a mistake during the presentation, I decided to chalk it up to experience and learn for next time.

  • He said we should chalk it up to experience and focus on improving for the next opportunity.

Synonyms

to come to terms with
vsto chalk it up to experience
76 4.1

To accept a difficult or unpleasant situation

accepts mistakes as lessons to improve, not only to cope with them
to learn one's lesson
vsto chalk it up to experience
  • Informal
34 3.4

A person notices they made a mistake and does things differently to avoid it again

accepts mistakes as learning opportunities rather than as defeats
to learn the hard way
vsto chalk it up to experience
  • Informal
22 6.0

Find out by going through a difficult or painful experience instead of being warned

accepts errors as lessons to learn from rather than as failures

Surface Forms

chalk it up to experience infinitive
chalked it up to experience past
chalked it up to experience past participle
chalking it up to experience present participle
chalks it up to experience third person singular

Morphology

chalk + it + up + to + experience

A B1 learner who knows the words will not automatically get the meaning because the literal verb 'chalk' (to mark with chalk) plus the particle 'up' do not transparently yield 'accept as a learning experience' unless the learner already knows the idiomatic use 'chalk up' = 'attribute/record'. The noun 'experience' gives a useful clue and the pattern resembles constructions like 'put down to experience', so there is a partial metaphorical link but not full predictability.

Etymology

The phrase chalk it up to experience may come from old shopkeepers who used chalk to write notes on a board. When something went wrong they would literally 'chalk it up' under the word experience, so today the phrase means 'accept a mistake and learn from it'.