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This was a scene in the show The Big Bang Theory, season 2, episode 9.

Sheldon and Penny are having a conversation on the staircase, which is as follows:

Sheldon: Of the handful of women Leonard's been involved with, she's the only one I have ever found tolerable.

Penny: Well, what about me?

Sheldon: The statement stands for itself.

What does Sheldon's last statement—"The statement stands for itself"—mean?

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  • The normal idiomatic sentence in English is "X speaks for itself"—meaning that there is no need to add anything further to X in order for its meaning or significance to be entirely clear. I don't know why the script writer shied away from "speaks" (in favor of "stands") in this instance.
    – Sven Yargs
    Jul 24, 2018 at 6:08
  • It's probably a calque on the legal maxim res ipsa loquitur, which one uses when stating the facts of a case (and not adding any commentary or interpretation) is enough to make a case.
    – user31341
    Sep 9, 2018 at 16:15

2 Answers 2

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He means that the earlier statement still stands, that is, he did include Penny in his statement about the handful of woman Leonard has been involved with but doesn't find her tolerable.

You might read it as (I added the first part in italic):

As I said before: of the handful of women Leonard's been involved with, she's the only one I have ever found tolerable.

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  • And hence that he doesn't find penny tolerable
    – mgb
    Jul 23, 2018 at 15:46
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He is simply saying "I've already told you.

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    Hello, EforEnglish is possible with. Can you indicate in your answer how it differs in substance from the answer that JJJ posted six weeks ago?
    – Sven Yargs
    Sep 9, 2018 at 17:31

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