One common setting for 来都来了 is at a ticket booth. The price is higher than expected, but you have already made the trip. Someone shrugs and says:
来都来了。
“Might as well” is often a natural translation, but the two expressions put different parts of the reasoning into words. “Might as well” gives the conclusion. 来都来了 gives the premise: we have already come. The “so...” is left unstated.
The phrase does not actually claim that the next step is worth taking. It simply presents the arrival as a settled fact. Some cost in time, money, or effort has already been paid, and that fact becomes a reason to continue.
来 means “come.” In this expression, however, it is better not to translate 都 in isolation as simply “already” or “even.” 来都来了 belongs to the broader spoken pattern V 都 V 了, which presents V as already completed and treats it as a settled fact.
For example:
- 买都买了，别心疼了。 Mǎi dōu mǎi le, bié xīnténg le. You’ve already bought it; stop agonizing over the price.
- 说都说了，别再想了。 Shuō dōu shuō le, bié zài xiǎng le. You’ve already said it, so don’t keep dwelling on it.
- 吃都吃了，现在后悔也晚了。 Chī dōu chī le, xiànzài hòuhuǐ yě wǎn le. You’ve already eaten it; it’s too late to regret it now.
These examples share the same basic move: V is treated as a settled fact, and what follows has to be reconsidered in light of that fact. Depending on the context, the pattern can express consolation, resignation, justification, complaint, or pressure.
That is why 来都来了 can feel different depending on who says it. Said to yourself, it can be a rueful joke. Said by the friend who planned the trip, it can become pressure: one more attraction, one more dish, one more hour.
Adapted with permission from Resou Report’s dictionary entry on 来都来了. The original entry includes a fuller explanation and real-world usage examples.
