forever and a day

1. Incessantly, ceaselessly, as in Will this racket never end? It's been going on forever and a day . [ Colloquial ; first half of 1900s]

2. 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]

Related Words

• durable
• enduring
• long-lasting
• perpetual
• stable