a sign of the times
Something regarded, usually negatively, as emblematic of the current time period. Nobody looks up from their mobile phones anymore. I guess it's just a sign of the times. Kids today hate the music you loved growing up? Well, that's just a sign of the times, I guess. There's lots of ways to contact people today, and, yet, no one ever gets back to you—it's a sign of the times.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
sign of the times
something that signifies the situation evident in the current times. Your neighbor's unmowed grass is just a sign of the times. Nobody really cares any longer.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
a sign of the times
COMMON If you say that something is a sign of the times, you mean that it shows what life is like now. The fact that no aircraft has been built even to match Concorde, is a rather depressing sign of the times. It was a sign of the times that Clare's skinny body was considered the look of the moment. Note: This expression is often used to suggest that life is becoming worse.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
sign of the times
something typical of the nature or quality of a particular period, typically something undesirable.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
(be) a ˌsign of the ˈtimes
something that shows the way the world is changing: Seventy per cent of last year’s graduates are still unemployed — a sign of the times, I’m afraid.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
sign of the times, a
Typical of a particular period, notably the present. This term appears in the Bible. When the Pharisees asked Jesus to show them a sign from heaven, he replied, “O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?” (Matthew 16:3). Many centuries later, historian Arnold J. Toynbee wrote (The World and the West, 1953), “The people who have read the signs of the times and have taken action . . . are the obscure missionaries of half-a-dozen Oriental religions.”
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer