Meaning
A very long time. Usually appears after 'for' or 'in'. The shortened 'donkey's' is informal British usage. Regional use: United Kingdom, Ireland and Commonwealth English.
Origin
The wording 'donkey's years' is documented by 1876, earlier than some dictionaries once reported. It is bound up with a pun on a donkey's long ears and dialect pronunciations in which 'ears' and 'years' converge. Sources disagree over whether 'ears' or 'years' was historically primary, so a simple Cockney-rhyming-slang claim is too certain.
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- Donkey's
- Donkey's ears
- Donkeys' years
Usage Examples
- I have not visited that little cinema in donkey's years.
- The recipe has been in our family for donkey's years, though nobody remembers who wrote it down.