...than the day is long

Posted by TheFallen on December 15, 2004

In Reply to: Your Crazier than the day is long posted by heather on December 15, 2004

: I have heard my dad say this phrase millions of time and just recently I was wondering what it meant. I hope someone can help me out because it is bugging me since I have know clue of the meaning or its orgin.

"...than the day is long" is a traditional comparative intensifying phrase - in the UK, a more common usage would be "you're as crazy as the day is long". The "day" in question is without doubt the working day and my gut feeling is that it stems from the long working hours that agricultural workers used to work in the fields, where days seemed back-breakingly endless.

• ...than the day is long ESC 16/December/04