Before you can say Jack Robinson

Suggest a Correction

Meaning

So quickly that there is scarcely time to notice, respond or prepare. Informal and mildly comic. Both 'can' and 'could' forms are established. Regional use: British English, with wider international recognition.

Origin

The expression is in print in the Edinburgh Magazine in 1762, already using Jack Robinson as the measure of a very short interval. Numerous later stories identify a particular Robinson, but none has displaced the simpler possibility that this was a convenient generic name in a comic formula.

Research Sources

  1. Before you can say Jack Robinson Cambridge University Press
  2. Jack Robinson Wordorigins.org

Variants

  • Before you could say Jack Robinson

Usage Examples

  • Before you can say Jack Robinson, the tide will cover that path.
  • The last pastries vanished before you could say Jack Robinson.
  • He signed the form and, before you can say Jack Robinson, a van was at the gate.

Keep Exploring

Browse all phrases