yonks en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
- /jɒŋks/ (UK)
Etymology
Unknown. First seen in print around 1960. One theory is that it comes from donkey's ears; another is that it is an abbreviation of years, months and weeks.
Meanings
-
(Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, plural, plural-only, slang) A long time (especially a longer time than expected); ages
Haven’t seen him in yonks!
I rang singer Julie Driscoll […] She said: "I haven't heard from you for yonks[…]"
1968 August 27, Christopher Ward, “The Christopher Ward Page”, in Daily Mirror, London, page 7:I’ve been a teacher for yonks–I should really try another career.
It's what Miss Brunskill calls ‘our little backwater’. We're more or less fixtures there and have been for yonks.
1982, Alan Bennett, “A Woman of No Importance”, in The Complete Talking Heads, Picador, published 2010, →ISBN, page 14:“Yonks,” he replies when I ask how long he's been stateside. “It's not like I've become American. I'm in England every year.”
2024 February 17, John Wright, quoting John Lydon, “I terrified a nation. Not bad for an 18-year-old”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 16:This egg is taking yonks to boil.
Alas, the comics for that age group have nearly all picture stories today—and of course the ones for younger readers have been that way for yonks (sorry, years).
1975 January 28, Bill Stewart, “Comic Cuts”, in Evening Chronicle, number 30393, Newcastle, page 7: