island time
- noun
- /ˈaɪlənd taɪm/
- Informal
:
tiempo de isla
- Don't worry, we're on island time here.
Examples
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Visitors are often surprised at how shops open and close on island time, with little regard for the clock.
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Locals told us not to worry about tardiness—everyone here lives by island time.
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After a week on the coast, we found ourselves slipping into island time and letting go of our schedules.
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Living on island time means you can relax more.
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Many people enjoy the laid-back lifestyle where they can embrace island time and forget about strict schedules.
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In this beautiful coastal community, everyone seems to live by island time, taking each day at a relaxed pace.
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Visitors quickly learn to adopt island time, realizing that rushing is not the way to enjoy their holiday.
Synonyms
A relaxed way of living that does not follow strict schedules
A relaxed way of dealing with time in Hawaii where events often start later than planned
A relaxed way of planning time and events common in Pacific island cultures
A relaxed approach to schedules where people often arrive late
A relaxed way of keeping time where being late is normal
Antonyms
How Relaxed
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound 'island time' literally links 'island' and 'time', so a learner can infer it refers to the way time is experienced on islands, but the specific pragmatic meaning—a relaxed, unhurried attitude toward schedules—is a cultural/metaphorical extension not strictly derivable from the parts. Thus it is partially predictable from the constituents but requires cultural or contextual familiarity to recover the full sense.
Etymology
Island time comes from the slow, easy life on islands, where time is guided by the sun and what people need each day rather than strict clocks. So island time means a 'relaxed' attitude to schedules and being less strict about the clock.