locust years

American  

plural noun

British.

1. years of economic hardship.

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Etymology

Origin of locust years

First recorded in 1948; coined by Winston Churchill (on the basis of the Bible verse Joel 2:25) to describe the years 1931–35 in Britain

Example Sentences

For a long time they were known as "the devil's decade", "the locust years", when unemployment shot through the roof, fascism gathered momentum abroad and the political classes betrayed the hopes of a generation.

From The Guardian

Nonetheless, argues Macleod, "it is not at Munich but at the locust years, 1934 and 1935, that the finger of criticism should be pointed."

From Time Magazine Archive