before you can say knife
- idiom
- UK
:
en un abrir y cerrar de ojos
- She packed her bag and left the room before you can say knife.
Examples
-
The cat jumped off the table before you can say knife!
-
The solution appeared before you can say knife, surprising the whole team.
-
He finished the puzzle before you can say knife, impressing everyone.
-
He finished his homework before you can say knife.
-
The magician performed his trick before you can say knife, leaving the audience in awe.
-
She solved the computer problem before you can say knife, impressing her colleagues.
-
The baby crawled across the floor before you can say knife, surprising everyone in the room.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
At a fast speed or without delay
∞
1.0
Quickly and without warning
446
1.4
In a very short time
130
1.0
Happening or done without any delay
84
1.0
Quickly and smoothly
50
3.3
Very quickly, in almost no time
35
2.5
Very quickly in a single moment
Happens very quickly
Antonyms
How Fast
- Informal
50
3.3
- Informal
35
2.5
- UK
174
1.3
∞
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
before + you + can + say + knife
The literal parts ('before' + 'you' + 'can' + 'say' + 'knife') only convey temporal sequence and the act of uttering a word, not the notion of rapidity; the meaning 'very quickly' is a conventionalized, formulaic use. This is an idiomatic, language-specific expression (like 'before you can say Jack Robinson') whose overall meaning cannot be derived from its constituents, so a B1 learner knowing the words would likely not predict the idiomatic sense.
Etymology
Before you can say knife may come from the idea that the short word knife is so quick to say that if something happens before you can even say it, it must be very fast. So, the phrase means 'happens very quickly'.