give the time of day
To acknowledge someone; to give someone respect or attention; to tip one's hat.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“He is so arrogant that he won't give me the time of day.”
“The busy clerk does not give customers the time of day.”
“Do you think she will give me the time of day at the party?”
“Despite my repeated attempts to apologize, she refused to give me the time of day.”
“Ever since the manager promoted his nephew, he does not give the rest of the team the time of day during lunch breaks.”
“I tried to ask my neighbor for help with the fence, but he barely gave me the time of day before walking inside.”
“The celebrity walked past the crowd of reporters without giving any of them the time of day, clearly annoyed by their constant presence.”
According to some, the expression originally literally referred to greeting someone with the obsolete greeting "good time of day", or other greeting appropriate to the time of day (e.g., good morning, good afternoon, good evening), and only later acquired an association with telling someone the time, along with its idiomatic sense.
- 01
a cold day in July
The time of occurrence of an event that will never happen.
- 02
a day late and a dollar short
Too late and too feeble to achieve the desired effect.
- 03
a week is a long time in politics
In politics, much change can occur in a short space of time.
- 04
a year and a day
A long time.
- 05
about time
Far past the desired time.
- 06
all one's born days
One's whole life.
- 07
any time now
Very soon.
- 08
any time soon
soon
Last updated August 10, 2026