sweet little time
1
7.2
- noun
- Informal
:
suave tiempo
- Instead of hurrying, she spent her sweet little time savoring every moment of the sunset.
Examples
-
You can take your sweet little time getting ready; there's no rush today.
-
- Take your sweet little time, okay?
-
He always takes his sweet little time before making a decision, which frustrates everyone.
Antonyms
How Long
∞
1.0
- Informal
1
7.2
225
3.3
∞
1.0
232
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
There is a partial connection: 'sweet' (pleasant) + 'time' (period) can suggest a pleasant or leisurely period, so learners may guess some leisurely sense. However the idiomatic nuance—often ironic or deliberately slow (as in 'take one's sweet little time')—and the diminutive 'little' create an unpredictable, language-specific meaning that B1 learners would likely need exposure to, not just knowledge of the parts.
Etymology
Sweet little time may come from the image of someone enjoying a sweet and taking a little time to eat it slowly while everyone else waits. That's why it now means 'taking a slow time on purpose', often making other people impatient.