New York minute
5
7.2
- noun
- /njuː jɔrk ˈmɪnɪt/
- Informal
:
minuto de Nueva York
- I could kick your ass off this hill in a New York minute.
- everything can change in a New York minute
- in a New York minute, things can change
- things can get done in a New York minute
Examples
-
I would do this in a New York minute.
Blog text (23) -
Get your hands off me or I'll have you fired in a New York minute.
-
Agostino would drop him in a New York minute.
Fiction book (2002) -
They have the authority to fire you all in a New York minute.
Blog text (18) -
Clinton or McCain would have brought attention to it in a New York minute.
Blog text (5) -
Regardless, if someone got into office through these kinds of lies, then they'd be recalled in a New York minute.
Blog text (3) -
The others were fun and flattering, and prior to this experiment, I would have married five of the six of them in a New York minute.
Blog text (23) -
This would make no sense, and all the support I've had for the front office would shift in a New York minute if he trades either of these two players, who we will need to be competitive in 2014.
Blog text (30) -
If either candidate mandated that they would require the domestic automakers and transplants to make a vehicle and home-based filling unit, they would get my vote in a New York minute.
Blog text (3) -
This place will be gone in a New York minute, I promise you.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
A unit of time equal to sixty seconds
∞
1.0
A very short time or a particular point in time
232
1.0
A very short moment that passes quickly
198
1.0
Ask someone to wait for a very short time
72
1.3
A very short time
72
3.7
A very short time
43
2.5
A very short moment when something happens
35
2.8
A very short moment that passes almost instantly
26
2.5
A unit of time equal to one thousandth of a second
22
4.9
A very short time like a moment
20
4.5
A unit of time equal to one billionth of a second
17
7.2
A very short time, just a moment
11
3.6
A very short time equal to one millionth of a second
8
2.5
A very short moment of time
1
9.9
A very short time, like an instant
Antonyms
How Short
- Informal
5
7.2
- Informal
35
2.8
43
2.5
232
1.0
∞
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
While 'minute' denotes a brief time interval, the addition of the proper name 'New York' is a cultural/clichéd qualifier whose contribution (implying speed or urgency) is not compositionally predictable. A B1 learner who knows the individual words but has not encountered the phrase will likely not infer the idiomatic sense 'an instant' because it relies on cultural metaphor rather than transparent semantic composition.
Etymology
New York minute may come from the idea that life in New York moves very fast, so a 'minute' there can feel like an instant. That's why it now means 'an extremely short time'.