Learn English – ny idiom for repeating itself

idiom-requests

someone say, an auther or movie writer, keep repeating the old story, or old style, in Chinese, there is a saying called "fried cold rice", meaning dish up the old food, is there any same idiom in English? thanks.

Best Answer

Not an idiom, but a word commonly used to describe this is "rehash". From American Heritage via TFD:

tr.v. re·hashed, re·hash·ing, re·hash·es

  1. To bring forth again in another form without significant alteration: a book that rehashes old ideas.
  2. To discuss (the details of a past event).

n. (rē′hăsh′) The act or result of rehashing: a rehash of an old plot.

So one can "rehash old material", which means repeating the same things with minor changes. Or, relating to your idiom, you could say that yesterday's rice was rehashed as today's meal.