Meaning of buy the same horse twice | Babel Free
/ˌbaɪ ðə seɪm hɔːs ˈtwaɪs/Definitions
(in a negotiation) To trade or make concessions for something that has already been agreed upon.
US
Examples
“We won't buy the same horse twice just to finalize this deal.”
““There was an expression we used at the embassy at the timethat trading with the Russians you had to buy the same horse twice,” Harriman recalled. […] He agreed that the whole negotiation we had just completed at Yalta would have to be developed again from the ground up. We had established nothing more than the machinery for renegotiation.”
“"[…]The United States will not play the game of accepting empty promises or yielding to threats. As former secretary of defence Bob Gates has said, we won't buy the same horse twice. We have made clear our openness to authentic negotiations with North Korea.[…]"”
““For the U.S. to be part of any negotiation with Iran, it has to show it is a trustworthy partner,’’ Mr. Zarif said. Picking up on an American term of art, he said he would not “buy the same horse twice.””
CEFR level
C2
Mastery
This word is part of the CEFR C2 vocabulary — mastery level.
This word is part of the CEFR C2 vocabulary — mastery level.