in two shakes

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English

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Adverb

in two shakes

  1. (dated, idiomatic) Very quickly; without delay.
    • 1906, Edith Nesbit, chapter 2, in The Railway Children:
      She tried to get the case open. . . . "I wish Father was here," said Phyllis; "he'd get it open in two shakes."
    • 1910, William MacLeod Raine, chapter 5, in A Texas Ranger:
      I'll have coffee ready in two shakes of a cow's tail.
    • 1922, Agatha Christie', chapter 19, in The Secret Adversary:
      I'll be back in two shakes of a dog's tail.
    • 1922, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter 16, in Right Ho, Jeeves:
      In two shakes of a duck's tail Gussie, with all that lapping about inside him, will be distributing the prizes at Market Snodsbury Grammar School .
    • 2005 December 15, Adrian Higgins, “And All the Trimmings”, in Washington Post, page H01:
      Skilled sheep shearers can get the wool off a ewe in two shakes of a lamb's tail.

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