before you can say knife en · X
Meanings
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Very quickly; quicker than one expects.
‘Ginger, Ginger, before you can say knife she'll make you into a damned missionary.’ I don't know that I'd mind that so much if we had a little mission of our own.
1926, W. Somerset Maugham, “The Letter”, in More Far Eastern Tales, Random House, published 2010, →ISBN:'Oh, we'll pull you off before you can say knife. Take care of His Excellency. I shall try to get a little sleep now.'
1893, Rudyard Kipling, “Judson and the Empire”, in Many Inventions:
Synonyms
before you can say Jack Robinson
Translations (8)
gd mun canadh tu deis-dè (Translations) · de ehe man sichs versieht (Translations) · sv innan man vet ordet av (Translations) · fi ennen kuin ehdit kissaa sanoa (Translations) · es en menos de lo que canta un gallo (Translations) · fr en moins de temps qu'il ne faut pour le dire (Translations) · ro cât ai zice pește (Translations) · ru "ма́ма" сказа́ть не успе́ешь (Translations)