# "A minute" used colloquially to describe a very long period of time-ever heard it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 22, 2011, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-minute-used-colloquially-to-describe-a-very-long-period-of-time-ever-heard-it/575619 "2011-03-22T16:15:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Brynda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Brynda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brynda)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2011, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-minute-used-colloquially-to-describe-a-very-long-period-of-time-ever-heard-it/575619/21 "2011-03-22T19:46:07Z")
I have heard it, almost exclusively from blacks or very rural Southerners. ---
**Author:** ![Silvorange](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Silvorange](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silvorange)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-minute-used-colloquially-to-describe-a-very-long-period-of-time-ever-heard-it/575619/22 "2011-03-23T01:10:17Z")
In the past few years I have been hearing it used that way. I live in Kentucky and I have only heard it from black people. ---
**Author:** ![Lucretia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/13edae/32.png) [@Lucretia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucretia)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-minute-used-colloquially-to-describe-a-very-long-period-of-time-ever-heard-it/575619/23 "2011-03-23T01:16:32Z")
I first heard it in 2008, from Army folks while deployed. Since then, I’ve heard it many times, always from military people (to be fair, that’s who I spend most of my time around). Anyway, that usage seems to be fairly well used in the military. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-minute-used-colloquially-to-describe-a-very-long-period-of-time-ever-heard-it/575619/24 "2011-03-23T01:47:42Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > I don’t think its a Southernism, at least not the literary equivalent (in which seconds morph into “minutes”, something that’s always bugged me). > > “Struck by the logic of my response, Henry sat silent for some minutes.” That’s the opposite of what **Ogre** is asking about, I think. In your example “some minutes” is used to mean a noticeable delay, but not literally several minutes. The OP is about “a minute” being used to mean a time period that is really much longer than one minute. The first is emphasis by exaggeration, the second is emphasis by understatement. The latter is more Southern, unless somebody is trying to be funny. Anyway, certainly I’m familiar with the usage. Distinctions between _Southern_ and _black_ are often pretty fuzzy. ---
**Author:** ![pendgwen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3da27b/32.png) [@pendgwen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pendgwen)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-minute-used-colloquially-to-describe-a-very-long-period-of-time-ever-heard-it/575619/25 "2011-03-23T02:02:46Z")
I’m in Newark, NJ and I encounter it only with black patients, most likely older, most likely female. Never heard it before moving here. It makes taking an accurate history a total pain. “Ma’am, how long have you been having trouble breathing?” “For a good minute now.” When I finally nail them down on the time course a minute can mean anything from a couple of days to a couple of years. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-minute-used-colloquially-to-describe-a-very-long-period-of-time-ever-heard-it/575619/26 "2011-03-23T02:59:36Z")
Never heard this usage. I’m a white girl from California. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Don\_t\_Call\_Me\_Shirley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Call_Me_Shirley)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-minute-used-colloquially-to-describe-a-very-long-period-of-time-ever-heard-it/575619/27 "2011-03-23T14:46:04Z")
I heard it about an hour ago, in Indiana, to refer to a time period of six years. ---
**Author:** ![clarkstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@clarkstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clarkstar)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-minute-used-colloquially-to-describe-a-very-long-period-of-time-ever-heard-it/575619/28 "2011-03-23T14:47:15Z")
seems to be a relatively new thing for the hip hop culture ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-minute-used-colloquially-to-describe-a-very-long-period-of-time-ever-heard-it/575619/29 "2011-03-23T14:56:30Z")
Data point: the earliest entry for “a minute” (that conforms exactly to the definition I’m using) on Urban Dictionary was from 2002, so it’s been around for a minute. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-minute-used-colloquially-to-describe-a-very-long-period-of-time-ever-heard-it/575619/30 "2011-03-23T15:58:00Z")
I’ve heard it, but only from black folks, and only recently. Such as: “I haven’t been to Chicago in a minute.” Very weird phrasing. mmm ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-minute-used-colloquially-to-describe-a-very-long-period-of-time-ever-heard-it/575619/31 "2011-03-23T16:11:58Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I hadn’t heard it until I made a friend who uses it. He’s from the same place as me (suburban Ohio) but his family is from Akron-by-way-of-West-Virginia. > > I don’t know that I know anyone else that uses it. But I use it from time to time now. Just to add to the current discussion…the friend mentioned above is very white and very not-into-hanging-with-black-people if you know what I mean. So he didn’t pick it up from black friends or black family. Now I’m super curious as to where he got it. Too bad we totally had a fight last month and no longer speak to each other. lol ---
**Author:** ![Alma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Alma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alma)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-minute-used-colloquially-to-describe-a-very-long-period-of-time-ever-heard-it/575619/32 "2011-03-23T20:13:33Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > “Hey Ray! It’s good to see you. It’s been a minute.” > “I’ll call you when it’s done. It’s going to take a minute.” I don’t think I’ve ever heard the first example, but I use the second one all the time, usually when I’m frustrated with a person who wants something too quickly. “Calm down, it’ll be a minute.” I’m firmly midwestern, a pasty white woman who grew up in a small town with exactly zero black people. It never struck me as strange before, but I use also “minute” to indicate a short period of time, like most people do. “I’ll be a minute” can mean either a short time or a long time–I guess it’s in the inflection. I’m not sure I’ve heard anyone else use the term since I’ve lived in Chicago, regardless of ethnicity. I’ll have to pay attention, but it might be another one of those things that brand me as not-from-here. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-minute-used-colloquially-to-describe-a-very-long-period-of-time-ever-heard-it/575619/33 "2011-03-23T21:19:57Z")
From LA, no family from the South, and I hear this all the time. This is a black thing? Interesting. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2011, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-minute-used-colloquially-to-describe-a-very-long-period-of-time-ever-heard-it/575619/34 "2011-03-23T21:23:26Z")
I’ve heard it a couple of times (born and raised in Baltimore, MD suburb; currently residing in north-central WV). The only time I ever use it in that context is if, for instance, my hubby would call and ask me to research something for him, and I might reply with something like “Sure, but it’ll take a minute”, meaning, of course, he has to be patient. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-minute-used-colloquially-to-describe-a-very-long-period-of-time-ever-heard-it/575619.md?page=1)