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Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

too little, too late en · X

Meanings

  1. (idiomatic) Used as a predicate or a pro-sentence to indicate insufficiency.
    • Finally, the island’s delicate balance could take no more as the sheer weight of the buildings and people on the northern part of the island caused it to tip on one end. Those who weren’t immediately drowned raced uphill for the center of Atlantis, in the hope of restoring the balance. But it was too little, too late, and the whole thing slid quietly into the ocean. 2005, Annabelle du Fouet, “The murky world from whence it all came” (chapter 2), in Weather Balloons Make Rotten Sex Toys, Ellora's Cave, →ISBN, page 37:
    • Committing half his reserves nearly three hours after the attack was too little, too late.
    • Jones forced a header over the line after Danny Welbeck was denied from close range and fellow substitute Federico Macheda hit the woodwork, but it was too little, too late. 2011 December 7, David Ornstein, “FC Basel 2 - 1 Man Utd”, in BBC Sport:
    • That's just half what was due last week. Too little, too late.
    • The Spanish government’s efforts to tackle the economic turmoil unleashed by the Covid pandemic were “too little, too late and too few”, according to a report that finds thousands of people are still reliant on emergency food aid and facing even greater hardship as prices soar. 2022 July 14, Sam Jones, “Spanish response to Covid poverty was too little, too late, report says”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

Relateds

it's too late for sorry · woulda, coulda, shoulda · a day late and a dollar short · close the stable door after the horse has bolted

Translations (12)

es demasiado poco y demasiado tarde (Translations) · cmn 太少，太遲 /太少 (Translations) · de zwar verspätet, dafür aber nur halb (Translations) · es "tarde, mal y nunca" (Translations) · cmn 太迟 (Translations) · de zu spät und zu wenig (Translations) · it troppo poco, troppo tardi (Translations) · he מעט מדי, מאוחר מדי (Translations) · fi liian vähän, liian myöhään (Translations) · pl rychło w czas (Translations) · pl poniewczasie (Translations) · pt muito pouco, muito tarde (Translations)