Three shakes of a lambs tail

Posted by James Briggs on October 10, 2006

In Reply to: Three shakes of a lambs tail posted by hotsabi on October 10, 2006

: origin three shakes of a lambs tail

Literally that. Three shakes of a lamb's tail can happen very quickly, hence the analogy. Quite a common phrase in the UK. Must be 100s of years old and based on simple observation. Used to describe something happening quickly, usually the time elapsing before a task is completed.

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