old as the hills
2
7.2
- idiom
- Informal
- These are old as the hills but I'm keeping them.
Loading YouTube…
Watch on YouTubeThere can't be, because speculation is as old as the hills.
- There can't be, because speculation is as old as the hills.
Examples
-
I'm old as the hills, but I refuse to grow up.
Blog text (15) -
Truth and non-violence are as old as the hills.
Blog text (10) -
I was a year or two older than them, and to myself, I seemed as old as the hills.
Fiction book (1993) -
No, sample selling is as old as the hills.
Blog text (16) -
" We'll both be old as the hills if we wait 'til you earn enough for a new one.
Fiction book (1999) -
Well, she's old as the hills.
-
That's a concern as old as the hills.
Blog text (7) -
This thing's old as the hills, and there's not a spare part to be found these days.
Fiction book (1990) -
She's a spinster, old as the hills.
Fiction book (1993) -
The story of the tortoise and the hare is a fable as old as the hills.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
A thing that has existed for a long time and is not new
∞
3.4
Very old and from a long time ago
38
4.2
Very old and present for a long time
16
9.6
From a time long ago when life was different
7
7.8
Old or getting old and not as good as before
3
9.9
Exists for a very long time, often about traditions, stories, or ideas
Antonyms
How Old
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is a straightforward simile comparing age to a long-standing natural feature: knowing 'old', the comparative 'as', and 'hill' allows a B1 learner to infer that something has existed for a very long time. Although conventionalized and somewhat hyperbolic, the meaning follows directly from the constituents and cross-linguistic conventions of using landscape features to signal great age.
Etymology
Old as the hills comes from the simple image of large hills that have stood for a very long time and always look old. So it means 'very old'.