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.
the vale of years :
Idioms Index – Previous Page
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