once in a blue moon

once in a blue moon

Very rarely. Peter only comes out for a drink once in blue moon now that he has kids. A: "Do you ever eat pork?" B: "Only once in a blue moon. I prefer beef."

See also: blue, moon, once

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2022 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

once in a blue moon

Cliché very seldom. Jill: Does your husband ever bring you flowers? Ellen: Once in a blue moon. Once in a blue moon, I buy a fashion magazine, just to see what people are wearing.

See also: blue, moon, once

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

once in a blue moon

Rarely, once in a very long time, as in We only see our daughter once in a blue moon. This term is something of a misnomer, because an actual blue moon-that is, the appearance of a second full moon in the same calendar month-occurs every 32 months or so. Further, the moon can appear blue in color at any time, depending on weather conditions. [Early 1800s]

See also: blue, moon, once

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.

once in a blue moon

If something happens once in a blue moon is happens only very rarely. I only get over to Cambridge once in a blue moon and I'm never in London. Only once in a blue moon do properties of this quality become available. Note: In some places, if there are two full moons in a calendar month, the second is called a `blue moon'. This is rare.

See also: blue, moon, once

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

once in a blue moon

very rarely; practically never. informal

The colour blue was an arbitrary choice in this phrase. To say that the moon is blue is recorded in the 16th century as a way of indicating that something could not be true.

See also: blue, moon, once

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

ˌonce in a blue ˈmoon

(informal) very rarely: Sue’s daughter only visits her once in a blue moon.

See also: blue, moon, once

Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

once in a blue moon

mod. rarely. Once in a blue moon I have a little wine with dinner.

See also: blue, moon, once

McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

once in a blue moon

Very rarely; once in a long while. The earliest reference to a blue moon is skeptical, as well it might be: “Yf they saye the mone is blewe, we must believe that it is true” (Roy and Barlow, Rede Me and Be Not Wrothe, 1528). An early reference to the moon as a time period occurred in Thomas Dekker’s A Knight’s Conjuring (1607): “She would have trickes (once in a moone) to put the divell out of his wits.” The pairing of the two came only in the nineteenth century: “That indefinite period known as a ‘blue moon’” (Edmund Yates, Wrecked in Port, 1869). It occurred still earlier in Pierce Egan’s Early Life in London (1821): “How’s Harry and Ben? Haven’t seen you this blue moon.” Modern astronomers now say “blue moon” refers to the occurrence of a fourth full moon in a season, in addition to the usual three.

See also: blue, moon, once

The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer