month of sundays
/mʌnθ əv ˈsʌndeɪz/
noun phrase
Origin
English
month + Sunday — a period of four or five Sundays
Overview
Meaning Now
- A very long, indefinite, or tedious period of time.
Literal older meaning
A duration of four or five Sundays.
Language path
English
Earliest form
a month of Sundays
Earliest period
19th century
Journey
The phrase likely originated as a hyperbolic way of describing an agonizingly slow period of time, specifically appealing to the observation of weekly cycles (Sundays) which were traditionally slow-paced days of rest in Western society.
Evolution
- Early 19th century
a month of Sundays
“Literal calculation of time.”
Used as a humorous or emphatic way to refer to the time between consecutive Sundays, multiplied by the number of weeks in a standard month.
- Mid-19th century
a month of Sundays
“An extended, indefinite duration.”
Semantic shift from literal time-counting to a hyperbolic idiom meaning 'a very long time'.
Connections
Word parts
month
root
a unit of time
Sunday
root
the first day of the week
Explore next
Related to month of sundays
External references use DefinedTerm semantics.