under one's belt

English

Etymology

Opinions vary between:

1. Comparing the experience and what was learned and gained from it, to a meal now eaten and safely stowed away in the stomach.
2. The effect of a punch below the belt in boxing or other fist fighting.

Prepositional phrase

under one's belt

1. Already done; within one's experience; practiced.

   He got off to a shaky start, but with a few months of experience under his belt, he kept up handily with the veteran employees.

   • 1998, “Two Little Girls”, in Ani DiFranco (lyrics), Little Plastic Castle, performed by Ani DiFranco:

     You were fresh off the boat from Virginia / I had a year in New York City under my belt / We met in a dream, we were both nineteen

Translations

within one's experience

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Bengali: please add this translation if you can
• Catalan: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: please add this translation if you can

  Hokkien: please add this translation if you can

  Mandarin: 在自己以往的經驗中／在自己以往的经验中 (zài zìjǐ yǐwǎng de jīngyàn zhōng)

• Czech: za sebou
• Danish: please add this translation if you can
• Dutch: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: plakkarissa, plakkariin (lit. "in / into one's pocket")
• French: à son actif, derrière la cravate
• German: im Gepäck, (Jahre / Belastungen) auf dem Buckel (literally “(years / burdens) on one’s back”), (Zeugnis) in der Tasche (literally “(certificate) in one’s pocket”), hinter sich (literally “behind oneself”)
• Greek: please add this translation if you can
• Hebrew: באמתחתו (beamtakhtó)
• Hindi: please add this translation if you can
• Indonesian: please add this translation if you can
• Italian: please add this translation if you can
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian: please add this translation if you can
• Persian: please add this translation if you can
• Polish: na koncie
• Portuguese: nas costas
• Russian: (behind shoulders) за плеча́ми (za plečámi)
• Serbo-Croatian: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: en su haber
• Swahili: please add this translation if you can
• Swedish: i bagaget
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Ukrainian: за плеча́ми (za plečámy)
• Urdu: please add this translation if you can
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

See also

• below the belt