time of day
23
8.3
- idiom
- /taɪm əv deɪ/
- Informal
:
hacer caso (a alguien)
- I had seen her a couple of times, but she never gave me the time of day.
- give the time of day
- get the time of day
- ask for the time of day
But I'm wondering why my daughter is not giving me the time of day.
- But I'm wondering why my daughter is not giving me the time of day.
- So you're like, why does she even give this guy a time of day?
- So I would say if you want to attempt it, then you try to get in line for an agent who you're not going to get the time of day from either.
- That's that's the truth, you know, so they'll, if they're polite, they'll give you the time of day.
- This is going to blow your mind by not giving them the time of day.
- If she's a dwarf, would you be are you giving her the the time of day?
- So, so Ambassador Torsella said, you know what, let me do some research on this because he actually gave me the time of day and didn't just, you know, yes, me and me.
Examples
-
I made so much money for them, and now I can't get the time of day.
Fiction book (1994) -
Come on, Dante, she was the girl who wouldn't give you the time of day back in high school.
-
No one will even give him the time of day.
-
We both know you had a thing for me, and I barely gave you the time of day.
-
I'd planned to say hello, pass the time of day for a few minutes.
Blog text (17) -
If it's somebody that I'm not interested in, I don't give them the time of day.
Fiction book (1990) -
Anyway, Aya wouldn't give Michael the time of day.
-
The entire night while I was talking to all those sweet, smiling, rich people who, a month ago, wouldn't give me the time of day, I just kept looking at you.
-
We care about what they think, how they, you know, perceive our appearance, whether they smile at us, whether they frown, whether they give us the time of day or don't.
-
She never gave him the time of day because he was rude to her.
Surface Forms
Morphology
While the literal meaning 'time during the day' is directly compositional from 'time' + 'day', the attitudinal/idiomatic sense ('any attention or acknowledgment', as in 'not worth the time of day') relies on a conventionalized figurative use of 'give time' = give attention. The connection is partially guessable (giving time → giving attention) but the fixed construction and pragmatic nuance are not fully predictable for a B1 learner without prior exposure.
Etymology
Time of day (as in 'give someone the time of day') may come from the idea of giving a person a small part of your time in the day, like a quick greeting or a few minutes of talk. So if you do not give someone the 'time of day', you refuse to give them basic 'attention'.