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A month of Sundays

Posted by Smokey Stover on November 10, 2008 at 16:28

In Reply to: A month of Sundays posted by ESC on November 09, 2008 at 20:17:

: : Do you know who first used the expression "a month of Sundays", or where it originated?

: We have discussed this before on several occasions. But we didn't have a definite origin. Anyone have new information? www.phrases.org.uk bulletin_board 2 messages 61.html

The oxford English Dictionary cites a use of the phrase from 1759: "1759 H. MURRAY Life & Real Adventures Hamilton Murray I. x. 121 The commander..swore he should dance to the second part of the same tune, for a month of Sundays." Undoubtedly Mr. Murray was familiar with the phrase because it was already in common use. The OED points out that it means "a very long time," and is often used negatively to mean, effectively, never.

However, it seems to me that 30 or 31 Sundays, or that many weeks, is not such a very long time, sub specie aeternitat i t s. Perhaps it is not neard much anymore because we have learned to think big.
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