forever and a day
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forever and a day
1. Eternally; always; ceaselessly. Honey, I'll love you forever and a day!
2. An exceptionally long period of time. Jim, how you been? It's been forever and a day since I last saw you!
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
forever and a day
1. For a very long time, as in He's been working on that book forever and a day. This hyperbolic expression probably originated as a corruption of the now obsolete for ever and ay. Shakespeare used it in The Taming of the Shrew (4:4): "Farewell for ever and a day." Today it is mainly a substitute for "very long time." [c. 1600]
2. Incessantly, ceaselessly, as in Will this racket never end? It's been going on forever and a day. [Colloquial; first half of 1900s]
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.
for ever and a day
Always; forever.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.