forgive and forget


Also found in: Acronyms, Wikipedia.

forgive and forget

To forgive someone and (attempt to) forget that the wrong they committed ever happened. I really do want to move on, but I just can't forgive and forget that you tried to steal my boyfriend!
See also: and, forget, forgive

Forgive and forget.

Prov. You should not only forgive people for hurting you, you should also forget that they ever hurt you. When my sister lost my favorite book, I was angry at her for weeks, but my mother finally convinced me to forgive and forget. Jane: Are you going to invite Sam to your party? Sue: No way. Last year he laughed at my new skirt. Jane: Come on, Sue, forgive and forget.
See also: and, forget, forgive

forgive and forget

Both pardon and hold no resentment concerning a past event. For example, After Meg and Mary decided to forgive and forget their differences, they became good friends . This phrase dates from the 1300s and was a proverb by the mid-1500s. For a synonym, see let bygones be bygones.
See also: and, forget, forgive

forˌgive and forˈget

decide to forget an argument, an insult, etc: Come on, it’s time to forgive and forget. ♢ Many of his victims find it impossible to forgive and forget.
See also: and, forget, forgive
References in periodicals archive ?
Finally, we hypothesized that HDF and LDF participants would rate forgive and forget as the most difficult technique to implement when forgiving.
Example items include "I have a tendency to harbor grudges" (reverse scored), "I tend to get over it quickly when someone hurts my feelings," "When people wrong me, my approach is just to forgive and forget," and "If someone wrongs me, I often think about it a lot after" (reverse scored).
No significant differences emerged for HDF and LDF participants regarding the ease of the technique for forgive and forget, forgive but do not have to forget, and forgive and remember.
09, suggesting that participants rated forgive and forget as more familiar than forgive but do not have to forget and forgive and remember (both ps < .
Increasing awareness of potentially helpful motivations and techniques for forgiveness
I'D rather remember and get even than forgive and forget.
WHILE the rest of us struggle to lift our jaws off the floor after Heather's courtroom antics (and her dreadful outfits), Paul's ready to forgive and forget.
Could you forgive & forget like Macca?
In that moment I, too, was ready to forgive and forget what may have happened between us.
In good heart
The only way to deal with deep pain and resentment, whether far in the past or a present experience, is not to forgive and forget but to remember and repent--or to remember and change.
Reconciliation and transparency
Idioms browser ?
Full browser ?