time flies

Idioms  

1. Time passes quickly, as in It's midnight already? Time flies when you're having fun, or I guess it's ten years since I last saw you—how time flies. This idiom was first recorded about 1800 but Shakespeare used a similar phrase, “the swiftest hours, as they flew,” as did Alexander Pope, “swift fly the years.”

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Example Sentences

Time flies when you’re hosting a late-night show four times a week.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 23, 2024

"Time flies fast," said Ricardo, one of the senior nursing assistants, who described her as "selfless and hardworking".

From BBC • Jun. 9, 2023

Time flies when you are having fun, and we’re up on the hour, so I will let you all go.

From Slate • Mar. 27, 2020

Time flies when you’re upending an industry, destroying a business model and drowning an unsuspecting populace in content.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 9, 2019

"Time flies when you're having fun," said Magnet.

From "Holes" by Louis Sachar