“Time flies” is a saying used when a period seems to have passed surprisingly quickly. It is often used retrospectively or in the familiar expression “time flies when you’re having fun.”
ReviewedEvidence1 sourceSectionPhrases & Idioms
Quick answer
“Time flies” means that time seems to pass surprisingly quickly.
Key details
Canonical FormTime Flies
Core Meaningused to say that a period of time has passed surprisingly quickly
Further guidance
History Boundary
This guide explains current documented meaning and does not claim a single inventor, exact coinage date, or absolute first use without direct historical evidence.
Meaning
used to say that a period of time has passed surprisingly quickly
Usage Boundary
Use it figuratively for the feeling that time passed quickly; it is not a literal statement about clock speed.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
“Dropping like flies” is an informal form of the idiom “drop like flies.” Cambridge records it for people dying or falling down in large numbers and also for people ceasing an activity in large numbers, so context determines how literal the phrase is.
The saying “a watched pot never boils” expresses how impatient waiting can make time feel unusually slow. This guide limits its public explanation to the present meaning supported by Oxford and does not publish a speculative origin chronology.
“Against the clock” describes working quickly to finish before a time limit and can also describe an activity in which elapsed time is recorded to compare speed. This guide keeps those current senses separate from unsupported origin chronology.
“At the drop of a hat” describes acting immediately or very readily. This guide publishes the current form and meaning supported by Cambridge without adding an unsupported story about a precise origin or first use.
To put something “on the back burner” is to postpone or deprioritize it temporarily rather than deal with it now. The guide stays with current documented meaning and does not add unsupported origin chronology.
“Better late than never” is used when a delayed action, arrival, or improvement is still considered worthwhile because the alternative would be no action at all. This guide does not claim an exact origin date.
“Burn the midnight oil” means to work late into the night. Historical phrase research reports “mid-night oyle” in Francis Quarles’s 1635 Emblemes and an earlier 1623 dictionary entry for working by candlelight, which provides context without proving a single moment of coinage.
“By Chance” means without being planned or intended, or without a known cause. Use it for accidental or unplanned occurrence; “by any chance” is a different expression often used to soften a question or request.
