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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.”


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

But that time flies by, akin to a cozy night in with an episode binge.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 20, 2024

The old saying "time flies when you're having fun" is an easy way to think about the idea of post-concert amnesia.

From BBC • Jun. 1, 2023

But as time flies by, it will bloom outward in expanding shells or rings of gas and dust.

From Scientific American • Mar. 17, 2023

Conventional wisdom tells us that life is short, time flies and there are never enough hours in the day.

From New York Times • Dec. 7, 2022

“You know that saying about how time flies when you’re having fun?”

From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

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