every hour God sends
- idiom
- Archaic
:
cada vez que se puede
- She calls her mother every hour God sends to check if she's all right.
Examples
-
The cat comes into the kitchen every hour God sends looking for food.
-
He worked in the garden every hour God sends during the spring.
-
I call my grandmother every hour God sends.
-
She visits the museum every hour God sends!
-
She calls her sister every hour God sends to share the latest news.
-
He goes for a run every hour God sends to stay fit and healthy.
-
They meet for coffee every hour God sends to catch up on life.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
On every occasion without exception
∞
1.0
Happens without stopping
38
3.5
Again and again in every situation
11
1.0
Happening once every hour
1
2.5
All the time without stopping
Do something, especially work, for very long periods without rest
Antonyms
How Often
- Archaic
740
1.0
476
1.0
∞
1.0
438
2.0
539
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase literally combines 'every hour' (indicating frequency) with 'God sends' as an intensifying/elliptical clause, so a learner can partially infer a sense of happening very often. However, the use of 'God sends' as an idiomatic intensifier/ellipsis is culture-specific and not fully predictable from the words alone, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents may still not arrive at the exact idiomatic meaning without exposure.
Etymology
The phrase every hour God sends comes from an old religious image: people pictured God 'sending' every hour to them like a small gift. So, doing something every hour God sends means doing it whenever you can, that is, 'as often as possible'.