whale

have a whale of a time

to enjoy yourself very much. 'Did Sam enjoy himself at the party?' 'He had a whale of a time.'

See also: time

a whale of a [bill/difference/problem etc.] (American & Australian)

a very large bill, difference, problem etc.. Another thousand dollars would make a whale of a difference. We ran up a whale of a bill in the restaurant.

See also: bill, difference, problem

a whale of a [job/party/story etc.] (American & Australian)

a very good job, party, story etc.. They've done a whale of a job renovating the building.

See also: job, party, story

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a whale of a something

1. an unusually good something. Perry's done a whale of a job for us. We had a whale of a time, and we were sorry when we had to leave.

2. an unusually large something. There's a whale of a difference between being a partner in a law firm and just being another lawyer.