laugh a minute
1
4.9
- idiom
- Informal
:
diversión asegurada
- The party was a laugh a minute, filled with jokes and funny stories.
Examples
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His wife says he's a laugh a minute, but the time Romney was glittered on stage, his wife got scared.
Blog text (17) -
"He's a laugh a minute.
Fiction book (1992) -
Yes, it's just a laugh a minute up there.
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It's been a laugh a minute so far.
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I'm a laugh a minute.
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And it's it's a laugh a minute there and you see people telling me I'm a complete crack and me fighting back.
-
- Yeah, you're a laugh a minute.
-
"Laugh a minute, wasn't he?"
Fiction book (1992) -
"Oh yeah," Dad interrupted, "they're a laugh a minute down there."
Fiction book (1997) -
This guy's a laugh-a-minute.
Synonyms
417
1.0
A short funny story or remark that makes people smile
350
1.0
A funny event or series of events that makes people laugh
33
4.9
A very funny person, story, or situation that makes people laugh
29
1.5
A fun time when people laugh together
26
6.3
A very funny person or thing that makes people laugh
1
3.9
A very funny person, event, or time that people enjoy
Antonyms
How Amusing
Surface Forms
Morphology
The components 'laugh' + 'a' + 'minute' literally suggest frequent laughing (a laugh every minute), so a learner who knows the words could plausibly infer the sense 'very amusing' from the composition. However, the expression is an informal, somewhat fixed idiom where 'a minute' functions hyperbolically; its conventionalized usage and register may not be fully predictable to a B1 learner without exposure.
Etymology
Laugh a minute may come from the picture of a show so funny you would laugh every minute; one popular story says people used it to praise performances that made them laugh all the time, so today it means something is 'very amusing'.