言うだけ言う

[eeky]

Hi,

いったい君たち、これは冗談のつもりかね——メイソン氏 もダーズリー一家に文句を言うだけ言うと出て行っていった。

While I get the general gist of this, I cannot exactly understand the reason for 言うだけ言う, or why there are two 言うs. Is this a set phrase of some sort?

 

[Toritoribe]

だけは / なりに / くればいい | Japan Forum

言うだけ言うと出て行った ＝ 言うだけで（＝ 言うという行為だけして）、出て行った

Mr Mason just said it (without, e.g., hearing other people said something about it) and left there.

 

[eeky]

So the pattern is ～するだけ～する (any verb repeated)?

Sorry, it actually reads 出ていった in the book but I had some finger trouble.

 

[Toritoribe]

Yes, ～するだけ～する is the basic pattern, and the latter part conjugates and/or は is inserted according to the word following it. This expression emphasizes だけ, so it has a nuance "at the very least" (e.g. 話すだけは話したほうがいい) or "only to do it and not to do other things that should be usually done" (e.g. 見るだけは見てやる, 言うだけ言うと出て行った).
(Notice that when the former part is potential (e.g. 見えるだけ見る, 言えるだけ言う), the meaning changes to "as ~ as possible".)

 

[eeky]

Right, thanks.