Thanks, Dex, for your smart and sensitive report on the origins of “in a coon’s age,” meaning “in a long time.”
The staff report can be found at http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mcoonsage.html
You lament that there’s no new slang for “in a long time.” African American vernacular English to the rescue!
Yesterday a friend was telling me that a guy he knew had gone to prison for 5 years, and he said, “He went away for a minute.”
In this case, the word minute connotes a period of time considerably longer than 60 seconds! In fact, it means “a very long while.” In Philadelphia, where I live, I hear this expression almost every day. Usually the word “minute” is pronounced emphatically, to underline the irony and make it clear that it’s not meant literally.
A few days ago, a co-worker told me he was surprised to see someone who’d been gone a long time: “I haven’t seen him for a minute!” he said.
Dex, thanks again for an informative report!