late to the party
8
7.1
- idiom
- Informal
:
llegar tarde a la fiesta
- I joined late to the party, but I'm having as big an impact as I can.
- come late to the party
- a little late to the party
No, no, no, if you just started that today, you're a little late to the party.
- No, no, no, if you just started that today, you're a little late to the party.
- And I remember the first time we celebrated MLK Day in Arizona because they came late to the party.
- It would be better for everyone if they felt like they could change their minds and get the vaccine now without being shamed for being late to the party.
- You know, I, I was late to the party on that in terms of putting words together in the public conversation around it.
Examples
-
I know I'm a bit late to the party, but I JUST learned that Neil Armstrong died.
Blog text (15) -
Even though I was late to the party, you guys helped me enjoy season 6 even more.
Blog text (3) -
You know, I, I was late to the party on that in terms of putting words together in the public conversation around it.
-
Indeed, the biggest threat was simply being late to the party and losing out to the competition.
Blog text (21) -
Well, look, I'm always late to the party, social media or otherwise.
-
Looks like I'm late to the party as usual.
Blog text (9) -
Also, my apologies for the timing of this comment; it seems I'm a little late to the party.
Blog text (20) -
I know I'm late to the party, but I had to giggle when I read this post.
Blog text (5) -
N.B. I'm historically late to the party when it comes to catching what's hot on TV.
Blog text (11) -
After hearing about the company's new product, I realized I was late to the party with my own idea.
Synonyms
9
1.3
Get to a place or event after the time you were expected to be there
Arrive somewhere later than expected, often by accident
How Late
- Informal
8
7.1
321
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The core meaning — arriving after an event — is directly derivable from 'late' + 'to the party' and would be understandable to learners who know the constituents. However, its common figurative use (e.g. 'late to adopt an idea or trend') is a metaphorical extension of the literal image and may not be fully predictable without prior exposure, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Late to the party may come from arriving late at a real party after the cake is gone and the best parts are over, so you have missed what everyone enjoyed. That's why it now means 'arriving after others' or 'being slow to join' a new idea or trend.