Comment by pelican0
12 hours ago
> This is the coolest thing on HN that I've seen in a minute.
Off-topic, but what is up with the increased use of the phrase "in a minute", presumably to mean "in a long time", lately?
I've only started encountering it in the past year.
Did it get popularized by some celebrity, tv show, influencers, etc?
seems like you know what you're talking about 5k% increase starting in July this year
https://trends.google.com/explore?q=I%27ve%20seen%20in%20a%2...
I think the trend is probably misleading. A popular youtuber may have released a video in August with a title containing "in a minute".
It's been around in slang for a few years with a few variants, e.g. "I haven't seen her in a hot minute." I think it's just filtered into wider cultural vernacular.
people have been saying "it's been a minute" to mean a long time since at least the 90s in NY
Scarlett Johansson says, “See you in a minute" in Avengers: Endgame.
This phrase has been around for years, I know because it has always infuriated me.
They took a well-defined unit of time, which is relatively short, and made it mean “some unknown but very long period of time”.
So frustrating. /oldmanyellsatcloud
it's been around. I more commonly see it as "been a minute!" when you see someone you haven't seen in a good while.