Phrase guide

I told you so

phrase · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • ī tōld yo͞o sō
  • Received-Pronunciation: /aɪ̯ təʊ̯ld juː səʊ̯/
  • Received-Pronunciation: /ʌɪ̯ təʊ̯ld juː səʊ̯/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Canada, General-American: /aɪ̯ toʊ̯ld ju soʊ̯/
  • Australian, New-Zealand: /ɑe̯ tɐʉ̯ld jʉː sɐʉ̯/
  • Australian, New-Zealand, also: /ɑe̯ təʉ̯ld jʉː səʉ̯/
  • Scotland: /aɪ̯ told jʉ so/
  • Scotland: /ʌi̯ told jʉ so/
  • Scotland: /əi̯ told jʉ so/
  • India: /əj ʈoːlɖ juː soː/
  • India: /ɑːj ʈoːlɖ juː soː/

1

phrase

Meaning 1

Used to remind someone that they were already warned by the speaker or writer that a certain event would happen.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal, ironic

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: what did I tell you

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

39 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: قُلْتُ لَكَ ذٰلِكَ (qultu laka ḏālika) — told you so!
  • Arabic: قُلْتُ لَكِ ذٰلِكَ (qultu laki ḏālika) — told you so!
  • Chinese Mandarin: 我說什麼來著 /我说什么来著 (wǒ shuō shénme láizhe) — told you so!
  • Chinese Mandarin: 我说什么来着 (wǒ shuō shénme láizhe) — told you so!
  • Danish: hvad sagde jeg — told you so!
  • Dutch: da's wat ik u gezegd heb he! — told you so!
  • Dutch: wat heb ik je gezegd? — told you so!
  • Dutch: ik zei het toch — told you so!
  • Finnish: mitä minä sanoin — told you so!
  • Finnish: minähän sanoin — told you so!
  • French: je te l'avais bien dit — told you so!
  • German: ich hab's gesagt (ja) (dir) — told you so!
  • Hungarian: nem megmondtam? — told you so!
  • Indonesian: apa kataku — told you so!
  • Indonesian: nah — told you so!
  • Italian: té l'avévo détto ìo — told you so!
  • Japanese: 言わんこっちゃない (iwan kotchanai) — told you so!
  • Japanese: 言っただろ (itta daro) — told you so!
  • Japanese: 言ったでしょ (itta desho) — told you so!
  • Kankanaey: kanak dedan en sik-a — told you so!
  • Low German: ik heff't seggt — told you so!
  • Low German: wat heff ik di seggt? — told you so!
  • Ojibwe: gigii-wiindamoon — told you so!
  • Polish: a nie mówiłem? — told you so!
  • Polish: a nie mówiłam? — told you so!
  • Polish: a nie mówiłom? — told you so!
  • Polish: a nie mówiliśmy? — told you so!
  • Polish: a nie mówiłyśmy? — told you so!
  • Portuguese: eu te avisei — told you so!
  • Portuguese: eu avisei — told you so!
  • Russian: я же тебе́ говори́л (ja že tebé govoríl) — told you so!
  • Russian: я же тебе́ говори́ла (ja že tebé govoríla) — told you so!
  • Spanish: ya te lo dije — told you so!
  • Swedish: vad var det jag sa — told you so!
  • Tagalog: sabi ko sa 'yo eh — told you so!
  • Turkish: ben demiştim — told you so!
  • Turkish: ha — told you so!
  • Vietnamese: tôi đã nói như thế rồi mà — told you so!
  • Vietnamese: thấy chưa? — told you so!