way back when
22
7.3
- idiom
- Informal
:
hace mucho tiempo
- So let me take you way back when I was in school, I was actually very shy.
Well, I went back to issue seven way back when and someone mentioned she had six.
- Well, I went back to issue seven way back when and someone mentioned she had six.
- But Charlie Murphy, I met him way back when he was doing the tour.
- We've been created in God's image somewhere along the line way back when somebody got that mixed up.
- And, and I remember way back when and they had this dream and, and they did it.
- Like I sold this lip gloss way back when and then buxom kind of became its own thing.
- First of all, I think I played basketball in this gym way back when, Once Upon a time.
- I love it still as much as I think I did way back when.
- So let me take you way back when I was in school, I was actually very shy.
- For example, let's go back to way back when this really started Snapchat Stories, right?
- Leah Barrett, the great photographer, I think, defined it that way to me way back when.
Examples
-
But Charlie Murphy, I met him way back when he was doing the tour.
-
No, it seems that my father and Hegbert knew each other from way back when.
Fiction book (2000) -
Well, I went back to issue seven way back when and someone mentioned she had six.
-
I loved your wedding pictures way back when, and I still love looking at you guys!
Blog text (1) -
I know you two had a falling out way back when, but if it makes any difference...
Fiction book (2000) -
I used to bet on college games pretty heavily way back when.
Fiction book (1995) -
And I used to know you personally way back when.
Fiction book (1991) -
And that was in the 1960s, way back when money was good and jobs abounded!
Blog text (2) -
In fact, Isaac Newton noticed this way back when he was in Cambridge looking at tennis matches.
-
When I was a child, way back when, we didn't have smartphones or the internet.
Synonyms
521
1.0
A long time in the past
74
5.5
A time in the past people remember with warm feelings, often when they were young
5
7.7
Since a long time ago
1
3.5
A time very far in the past often used to begin a story
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
The core components 'back' (past) and 'when' (time) transparently signal a past time, and 'way' here functions as an intensifier meaning 'far' or 'a long', so the overall sense 'a long time ago' can be partly derived from the parts. However, the use of 'way' as a colloquial intensifier may not be obvious to a B1 learner without exposure, making the expression only partially predictable.
Etymology
Way back when paints a picture of time as a long road. If you travel that road very far, you go way back to an earlier when, so it means 'a long time ago'.