Meaning
An extremely enjoyable or exciting time. Nearly always in the phrase have a whale of a time, and part of a broader pattern, a whale of a story, a whale of a game, in which whale signals a remarkable or outstanding example of something. Informal and warm in tone. Informal, cheerful and slightly old-fashioned in flavour; common in holiday and reminiscence contexts. Regional use: American English origin; now General English.
Origin
Etymonline dates whale of a, meaning an excellent or large example of something, to about 1900 in American student slang; the time phrase is simply the most durable application of that pattern. American Heritage records the underlying informal noun sense, an impressive example, as in 'a whale of a story'. The figurative leap relies on the whale being the largest of animals, so that a whale of a thing is a thing on an outsized scale. No first citation of the exact collocation with time was located in the sources checked; what the dictionaries date is the whale-of-a pattern rather than this specific phrase.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- a whale of a good time
- a whale of a story (same pattern)
- a whale of a weekend
- have a whale of a time
Usage Examples
- The kids had a whale of a time at the water park and slept for the whole drive home.
- We had a whale of a time in Lisbon even though it rained on three of the five days.
- Give her a karaoke machine and a room full of cousins and she will have a whale of a time.