Meaning of for old times' sake | Babel Free

Definitions

An appeal to the nostalgia of prior experiences to convince someone to do something.

idiomatic

Equivalents

Examples

“When gang leader Chen Xinfu was apprehended in Haikou, capital of south China’s island province of Hainan, earlier this month he told his arresting officers: “Guys, take good care of me, for old times’ sake.” Unlike the hundreds of other mob bosses who have been rounded up in recent months, Chen has a special relationship with the police: before his descent into the criminal underworld, he was deputy head of the public security bureau in the city’s Xiuying district.”

CEFR level