![]() ![]() ![]() When you only just leave yourself enough time to do something, we say you are cutting it fine. Here are some other time idioms to use if you are in this situation: Cutting it fine If you don’t have a lot of time, one of the most common ways to express this is to say that you are short on time or short for time. We’ll decide where to go nearer the time.”Įxpressions to say you don’t have much time “I need to buy flowers for my mother’s birthday, but I’ll arrange them nearer the time.” “Let’s meet up for lunch on the 20th. You would usually use this when planning ahead for something. The phrase nearer the time refers to a point in time closer to when a particular event or occasion will be happening. Once you call it a night, you can use one of these sleep idioms to talk about going to bed. Why don’t you switch off the TV and call it a night?” “If your back starts to hurt you should call it a day.” “You look tired. We use the time idiom call it a night in the same way. If you call it a day, you stop what you are doing for that day. “It’s rare for me to have too much time on my hands now I have three children.” Call it a day / night If you have time on your hands you have some spare time with nothing in particular to do. “The kids had a whale of a time at Ben’s birthday party.”įind some more idioms with animals here. If you’re having a whale of a time, you are really enjoying yourself and having an exceptionally fun experience. You might say that such a person needs to get with the times. “My mother is rather behind the times she still thinks fax machines are a good idea!” Someone who is behind the times is old-fashioned and not up-to-date with modern technology, practices or views. “Aim to complete your tasks ahead of time to allow for complications.” “I always buy Christmas presents ahead of time to avoid the last-minute rush.” Behind the times If you do something ahead of time, it means it is complete before the deadline or with plenty of time to spare. This time idiom has quite complex origins, which you can read more about here. “He tidies his bedroom once in a blue moon.” Once in a blue moon means very rarely or almost never. I suppose it’s just a sign of the times.” Once in a blue moon “People never seem to smile at strangers any more. A sign of the times is something which represents or signifies the current period in time, usually in a negative way. This one is actually an idiom from the Bible. When written, it’s down to you to determine the meaning from the context. When spoken, there is usually more emphasis on the phrase when the latter meaning is intended. “It’s about time I started getting dinner ready.” “It’s about time women’s sports were taken more seriously.” The idiom about time is used to say that it’s the right time for something to happen, or that it should have happened long ago. See also: Sometime vs some time About time “It’s only a matter of time before someone trips over that broken paving stone.” “Suzie and Tom will definitely get engaged one day. It is sure to happen at some point in the future. It possible that the sink version caught on because it is an example of assonance (the "i" sound is repeated in k itch en s ink), which gives it more rhythm than the "stove" version.If we say something is a question of time or a matter of time, it means it is inevitable. "Kitchen sink" also works for this reason. "Walls" makes sense because they are immovable, and this might be why "kitchen stove" was chosen. The French equivalent to this saying is tout sauf les murs (everything but the walls). In fact, they threw everything they had at us, including the kitchen sink They threw everything they had at us, except the kitchen sink.The term was popularized during World War II ( evidence), when "kitchen sink" was used when describing an intense bombardment: ![]() I have I shall rather enjoy the experience, though the stitlons are full of people trying to get out and the streets blocked with perambulators, bird cages and " everything but the kitchen sink.".This idiom originates from the late 19th century, when the term was "everything but the kitchen stove." This later evolved to the "sink" version as shown by this extract from the New York newspaper "The Syracuse Herald" in 1918: We have thrown everything but the kitchen sink at this problem.You can buy everything but the kitchen sink. The Chinese supermarkets in Europe are amazing.My husband has stored everything but the kitchen sink in there. There's no room for a car in my garage.Do you really need all those things? You have packed everything but the kitchen sink. ![]()
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