quicker than a minnow can swim a dipper
Extremely quickly; almost immediately; suddenly or in a very short space of time. Once I'm finished with high school, I'll be outta this two-bit town quicker than a minnow can swim a dipper! I was out fishing one day when, quicker than a minnow can swim a dipper, a 20-pound trout jumped out of the water and right into my lap!
quicker than hell
Incredibly quickly or speedily. Mary finished her exam and raced out of the classroom quicker than hell. Everyone was expecting an epic, length fight between the two legendary boxers, but Robinson dropped his opponent to the mat quicker than hell.
quicker than you can say Jack Robinson
Extremely quickly; almost immediately; suddenly or in a very short space of time. Once I'm finished with high school, I'll be outta this two-bit town quicker than you can say Jack Robinson! I was out fishing one day when, quicker than you can say Jack Robinson, a 20-pound trout jumped out of the water and right into my lap!
the hand is quicker than the eye
cliché An expression associated with stage magicians in reference to sleights of hand that seem to occur faster than the audience is able to perceive. How, you may ask, could I possibly have retrieved this card from behind the volunteer's head, seemingly out of thin air? Well, the hand is quicker than the eye, my friends!
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
before you can say Jack Robinson
and quicker than you can say Jack RobinsonFig. almost immediately. (Often found in children's stories.) And before you could say Jack Robinson, the bird flew away. I'll catch a plane and be there quicker than you can say Jack Robinson.
quicker than hell
Inf. very fast. You got over here quicker than hell. Be careful in the stock market. You can lose all your money quicker than hell.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
before you can say Jack Robinson
Also, quicker than you can say Jack Robinson. Almost immediately, very soon, as in I'll finish this book before you can say Jack Robinson. This expression originated in the 1700s, but the identity of Jack Robinson has been lost. Grose's Classical Dictionary (1785) said he was a man who paid such brief visits to acquaintances that there was scarcely time to announce his arrival before he had departed, but it gives no further documentation. A newer version is before you know it, meaning so soon that you don't have time to become aware of it (as in He'll be gone before you know it).
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
before you can say Jack Robinson
very quickly or suddenly. informal This expression was in use in the late 18th century, but neither an early 19th-century popular song about Jack Robinson nor some mid 19th-century attempts to identify the eponymous Jack Robinson shed any light on its origins.
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
before you can say Jack ˈRobinson
(old-fashioned) very quickly or suddenly: I’ll do that for you. I’ll have it finished before you can say Jack Robinson.Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
quicker than hell
mod. very fast. Be careful in the stock market. You can lose all your money quicker than hell.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
before you can say Jack Robinson
At once, instantly. No one seems to be able to trace this term precisely or to discover the identity of Jack Robinson. Its earliest documented use was in 1778 in Fanny Burney’s Evelina (“I’d do it as soon as say Jack Robinson”). It appears in Dickens’s A Christmas Carol and Twain’s Huckleberry Finn. According to Francis Grose’s Classical Dictionary (1785), the original Jack Robinson was a gentleman who called on his neighbors so peremptorily that there was hardly time to announce him before he was gone.
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer