Jewish Standard time
- noun
- /ˈdʒuːɪʃ ˈstændərd taɪm/
- Slur
- You know you're running on Jewish Standard time when everyone arrives well after the scheduled hour.
Examples
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Our dinner party always seems to start according to Jewish Standard time rather than the time on the invitation.
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He apologized for being twenty minutes late, smiling and blaming it on Jewish Standard time.
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It's just Jewish Standard time!
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Don't worry; it's Jewish Standard time.
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He apologized for being twenty minutes late, smiling and blaming it on Jewish Standard time.
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Our dinner party always seems to start according to Jewish Standard time rather than the exact time on the invitation.
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You know you're running on Jewish Standard time when your friends show up well after the planned hour.
Synonyms
A relaxed way of keeping time when people often arrive later than planned
A relaxed way of keeping time where being late is normal
A relaxed view of time in Puerto Rico where events often start later than planned
A relaxed way of keeping time when people often arrive late
Antonyms
How Punctual
Surface Forms
Morphology
The literal constituents 'Jewish' + 'standard' + 'time' would suggest an accepted or official time, not the notion of lateness; the idiomatic meaning relies on a culturally specific, humorous stereotype about punctuality that is not derivable from the words themselves. Because the sense is culture-bound and unpredictable for learners who only know the component words, this expression is not transparently interpretable.
Etymology
Jewish Standard time is a joking expression from social life. One popular story says it comes from parties and family events where the time on the invitation was only a guide and people often arrived later, so the phrase now means 'not on time' or having a relaxed view of start times.