whale of a show
1
6.4
- idiom
- Informal
:
gran espectáculo
- Everyone agreed that the school play was a whale of a show this year.
Examples
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The circus was a whale of a show that kept the audience entertained for hours.
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That was a whale of a show last night!
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They put on a whale of a show last night at the festival.
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I can't wait to see the next whale of a show!
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The circus put on a whale of a show that left the audience cheering for more.
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Everyone agreed that the summer concert was a whale of a show with amazing performances.
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After weeks of preparation, the theater group finally staged a whale of a show that captivated all attendees.
Synonyms
7
5.7
Something very impressive that makes people stop and look
1
6.1
A time when you have a lot of fun
1
3.4
A very impressive show that people remember for a long time
1
9.8
A person or thing that is very impressive
A very impressive, exciting performance that people remember
A very impressive show that excites the audience
How Impressive
Surface Forms
Morphology
A B1 learner who knows 'whale' as something very large and 'show' as a performance can reasonably infer 'a whale of a show' denotes a very big or impressive event. However, the specific evaluative force ('exceptionally good') comes from the idiomatic use of 'a whale of a', which is a figurative extension and not fully predictable without prior exposure.
Etymology
The idiom whale of a show comes from the picture of a whale as something very large and impressive used to describe a show. So calling an event a 'whale' makes it sound very big and exciting, and that is why the phrase means 'an event that is exceptionally good or impressive'.