poor time of it
- idiom
- UK
:
pasar un mal rato
- The hikers had a poor time of it when the weather turned unexpectedly harsh.
Examples
-
Many students have a poor time of it adjusting to college in their first semester.
-
After losing her job and getting sick, she really had a poor time of it last year.
-
He had a poor time of it during the last few months.
-
Why did she have such a poor time of it at the event?
-
After losing her job and getting sick, she really had a poor time of it last year.
-
Many students have a poor time of it adjusting to college in their first semester.
-
The hikers had a poor time of it when the weather turned unexpectedly harsh.
Synonyms
241
3.7
Find something difficult to do
15
7.0
To have a very hard and painful time in life
7
6.7
Having bad luck, often with money
2
6.5
A period when someone has many problems
1
6.1
A time when someone has trouble
Find it very difficult to do something
A period when someone has many problems
Antonyms
How Bad
443
1.8
- Informal
2
6.5
- UK
241
3.7
- Informal
1
1.7
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to have a difficult or unpleasant experience' is directly derivable from 'poor' (bad) + 'time' (a period/experience), so 'a poor time' transparently conveys a bad or hard period. The final element 'of it' simply refers back to the situation and the construction parallels cross-linguistic equivalents (e.g. 'have a bad time' / 'have a hard time'), so a B1 learner who knows the constituents is likely to infer the meaning.
Etymology
The phrase poor time of it probably comes from talking about a poor time — a period with little money, bad luck, or a lot of trouble. So, to say someone 'had a poor time of it' meant they went through a bad period, which is why it now means 'to have a difficult or unpleasant experience'.