I’d like to ask about the sentence from His Last BowHis Last Bow by Conan Doyle.
“.. It was on my first arrival. I was invited to a week-end gathering at the country house of a cabinet minister. The conversation was amazingly indiscreet.” Von Bork nodded. “I’ve been there,” said he dryly.
“.. It was on my first arrival. I was invited to a week-end gathering at the country house of a cabinet minister. The conversation was amazingly indiscreet.”
Von Bork nodded. “I’ve been there,” said he dryly.
The first remark in the quote was spoken by Baron Von Herling, the chief secretary of the legation. And the second one is, as you can see, by Von Bork, an international spy.
I just wanted to make sure the meaning of this “I’ve been there”, the Von Bork’s remark. This
This is of course an idiomatic expression which means “I have the same (similar) experience as you do” “I know how it is, how you feel because I too have gone through that”, right? I mean, how can it mean otherwise when the baron only mentioned “gathering in the country house of a cabinet minister”? Von Bork had no way to tell which cabinet minister the baron meant. Hence Von Bork, being a spy, had similar experiences where some English politicians spoke too candidly. Am I right? Can someone tell me? Thanks.