Click below to listen to the phrase.
Choose the correct definition a, b or c.
a) finished successfully
Well done ! That’s the right answer.
Done and dusted means completely finished. The phrase often carries the the idea that the task was successfully carried out.
It is said to come from writing with a quill and ink, and using a special dust to make the ink dry quicker.
French translation
réglé une bonne fois pour toutes, c’est une affaire classée
How NOT to translate : *fait et épousseté
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Examples in context
‘Scientific snapshot : a Tuesday in the life of a university scientist
The scientist’s lot is a mixed one : every day is different, even if every day is judgment day.
At lunchtime, along with a few other departmental colleagues I judge a cake competition organised by the students. The room is sparsely populated and there are only three entries – apparently the result of a timetable clash which has prevented first years from attending. One tells me how much he enjoyed my protein crystallography lectures ; this is a far from universal reaction to material that many of the students find challenging (also known as “boring”).
But he cannot be currying favour since the exam is done and dusted. Another wants the department to add more programming skills to the biochemistry course. I sympathise. It’s a fair request in these data-rich times (we mustn’t let AI get too far ahead), but we can’t agree on which parts of the curriculum should be ditched to make way.’
The Guardian, 16 March 2016
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Rolls-Royce Dawn driven : the world’s most luxurious convertible
Do “Rolls-Royce” and “sexy” have any place together in the same sentence ?
Apparently so, if you believe what the BMW-owned luxury car maker says about the Dawn, its new – don’t call it a convertible – drophead.
Such is the glory of a 6.6-litre twin-turbo engine, which summons up genuinely effortless urge from barely more than tickover. This is a quick car (0-62mph can be done and dusted in just 5sec), but it never shouts about it, helped by an eight-speed automatic gearbox that uses data from satellites to help determine the right ratio for any given situation.
The Telegraph, 15 March 2016
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Everyday usage
I want to have these expense reports done and dusted by the end of the week.
We’ve finished the admin for this week. Done and dusted.
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