Idiom
coon's age
Meaning
A very long time.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“I have not seen my old friend in a coon's age.”
“This old computer takes a coon's age to start up every morning.”
“We wait a coon's age for the bus whenever it rains.”
“It has been a coon's age since we last visited this park, and everything looks different now.”
“My grandfather finally decided to replace his old truck after driving it for a coon's age.”
“The neighbors haven't painted their house in a coon's age, so the wood is starting to rot.”
“She realized she hadn't updated her resume in a coon's age and needed to add her new skills.”
“The chef finally changed the menu after serving the same three dishes for a coon's age, much to the relief of the regular customers.”
“Having lived abroad for a coon's age, he found the rapid modernization of his hometown both fascinating and overwhelming.”
Examples
simple
“I have not seen my old friend in a coon's age.”
“This old computer takes a coon's age to start up every morning.”
“We wait a coon's age for the bus whenever it rains.”
contextual
“It has been a coon's age since we last visited this park, and everything looks different now.”
“My grandfather finally decided to replace his old truck after driving it for a coon's age.”
“The neighbors haven't painted their house in a coon's age, so the wood is starting to rot.”
“She realized she hadn't updated her resume in a coon's age and needed to add her new skills.”
“The chef finally changed the menu after serving the same three dishes for a coon's age, much to the relief of the regular customers.”
complex
“Having lived abroad for a coon's age, he found the rapid modernization of his hometown both fascinating and overwhelming.”
Origin
Recorded as an Americanism in 1843, the expression is likely an adaptation of the older English phrase *in a crow’s age*, which served the same function. The term *coon* functions here as a North American colloquialism for the raccoon, though the etymology remains unproven beyond its probable connection to the earlier avian variant.
Key words
Related idioms
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