I had a whale of a time
I had a very enjoyable time
TRANSLATION
whale of a time = sich köstlich amüsieren, einen Riesenspaß haben --- GOOGLE INDEX whale of a time: approximately 850,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
A WHALE OF A TIME in Cape Cod
(The Miami Herald)
---
"I once sat next to Carter through a performance of his Variations For Orchestra. He sang the melody the whole way through. He was clearly having A WHALE OF A TIME."
(The Herald, Scotland)
(The Miami Herald)
---
"I once sat next to Carter through a performance of his Variations For Orchestra. He sang the melody the whole way through. He was clearly having A WHALE OF A TIME."
(The Herald, Scotland)
Did you
know?
whale of a time
idiom
- to enjoy oneself very much
(Cambridge Dictionary)
---
Whales are more than big. In fact, the Blue Whale is the largest animal in the world, as long as a basketball court or around 30 meters.
Given our habit of utilizing animals as metaphors for a wide variety of characteristics, it should come as no surprise that we say "a whale of..." when we want to describe a very great amount of something or a very good thing. The whale acts as a superlative or so-called intensifier in this case.
Apart from "a whale of a time," one might also hear expressions like "whale of a party" (fun), "whale of a game" (exciting), "whale of a project" (comprehensive or difficult) or "whale of a meal" (enjoyable).
Animal metaphors are even found in the business world to describe everything from markets, companies and products. Below are a few examples:
- bear market / bull market = a declining stock market / a rising stock market
- gorilla = a large company that dominates an industry
- cash cow = a product that requires little advertising while consistently generating high revenues
- lemming = an investor who follows trends that eventually fail
---
SYNONYMS
to have...
a blast, a fun time, a good time, a great time, a wild time
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"We always have a whale of a time at the annual sales conference."
idiom
- to enjoy oneself very much
(Cambridge Dictionary)
---
Whales are more than big. In fact, the Blue Whale is the largest animal in the world, as long as a basketball court or around 30 meters.
Given our habit of utilizing animals as metaphors for a wide variety of characteristics, it should come as no surprise that we say "a whale of..." when we want to describe a very great amount of something or a very good thing. The whale acts as a superlative or so-called intensifier in this case.
Apart from "a whale of a time," one might also hear expressions like "whale of a party" (fun), "whale of a game" (exciting), "whale of a project" (comprehensive or difficult) or "whale of a meal" (enjoyable).
Animal metaphors are even found in the business world to describe everything from markets, companies and products. Below are a few examples:
- bear market / bull market = a declining stock market / a rising stock market
- gorilla = a large company that dominates an industry
- cash cow = a product that requires little advertising while consistently generating high revenues
- lemming = an investor who follows trends that eventually fail
---
SYNONYMS
to have...
a blast, a fun time, a good time, a great time, a wild time
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"We always have a whale of a time at the annual sales conference."
