the vale of years






for donkey's years

for a very long time – informal

For donkey's years is a pun referring to the length of a donkey's ears and playing on a former pronunciation of years as ears.

1998 - Ardal O' Hanlon - The Talk of the Town - He'll be no loss, that's for sure. Sure his own family hasn’t spoken to him for donkey's years.



put years on someone = take years off someone

make someone feel or look older (or younger).



the vale of years

the world regarded as a scene of troubles and sorrow

The phrase dates from the mid 16th century. The variants included vale of trouble, vale of weeping and vale of woes.



the year dot

a very long time ago – British informal

1998 - Spectator - From the year dot there has been an uneasy relationship between press and police.




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