this minute
52
1.1
- idiom
- Informal
:
ahora mismo
- She's leaving right this minute.
- right this minute
- just this minute
- now this minute
Just 'cause I'm conceivably winning right this minute.
- Just 'cause I'm conceivably winning right this minute.
- You're communing with that field right this minute.
- It's, it's a fair question, but let's not try to answer it right this minute.
Examples
-
Settle down right this minute!
-
He just got here this minute.
-
It's more like now, right this minute and it's super exciting.
-
Can you say something funny right this minute? - I doubt it.
-
Well, not right this minute.
-
What you say and do right this minute is gonna change the rest of your life.
-
And, Joe, you get up out of bed this minute and get dressed.
Fiction book (1992) -
What do you think Mom's doing right this minute?
-
I just found out this minute you've been staying with Uncle Bob.
Fiction book (1990) -
What you say and do this minute is gonna change the rest of your life.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
At this exact moment or right away
∞
1.0
At this time
∞
1.0
At the present time
232
1.0
A very short moment that passes quickly
70
3.5
The time and place you are in now
68
1.2
Now, not in the past or future
42
3.5
At the present time
15
2.1
The time that is happening now
How Current
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'at this very moment; immediately' is directly derivable from combining 'this' (the current/nearest) with 'minute' (a short time unit), i.e. the current minute. This is a straightforward temporal deictic composition following common English patterns (and similar constructions exist cross-linguistically), so a B1 learner who knows the two words will readily infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
This minute comes from the idea that a minute is a very small moment of time. Saying this minute makes you think of one tiny moment, so it means 'right now' or 'immediately'.