in two shakes
3
7.0
- idiom
- Informal
:
en un abrir y cerrar de ojos
- I'll be back in two shakes.
- in two shakes of a lamb
Examples
-
Okay, I'll be back in two shakes of a lamb's tail.
-
You'll be out in two shakes of a lamb's tail.
-
We're gonna get you out of here in two shakes.
-
Be with you in two shakes.
-
Hey, be back in two shakes.
-
I'm just gonna pop upstairs, back in two shakes, all right?
-
The rest of the things'll be here in two shakes.
-
I'll be back in two shakes of a lamb's tail, okay?
-
Now, you wait here and I'll be out in two shakes of a lamb's tail.
-
We're gonna get you out of here in two shakes.
Synonyms
174
1.3
Very quickly, in a short time
54
1.7
After a very short time
35
2.5
Very quickly in a single moment
30
3.6
In a very short time
27
3.7
Very quickly and without delay
3
3.0
It happens very quickly with little effort
1
8.3
A very short time that means something will happen soon
Very fast, without delay
Very quickly and in a hurry
Antonyms
How Soon
330
1.0
174
1.3
- Informal
3
7.0
- UK
∞
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
in + two + shakes
The phrase combines 'in' (time frame), 'two' (a very small number) and 'shakes' (rapid movements), so a learner who knows these words can plausibly infer a meaning of a very short time. However, using 'shake' as a unit of time is idiomatic and the exact meaning and usage ('in two shakes' = very soon) is a conventionalized, colloquial extension, so full comprehension is not guaranteed without prior exposure.
Etymology
In two shakes likely comes from the old saying two shakes of a lamb's tail, which pictures a lamb flicking its lamb's tail twice very quickly. Because those quick tail movements are so short, the phrase came to mean 'very soon' or 'quickly'.