Talk:have a whale of a time
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I think this expression is doubly sum-of-parts, since both what precedes and what follows whale can be swapped out for other words, yet any resulting expression still depends on whale. Indeed, we already have the basic meaning of this expression listed at whale, sense 4, with citations of it was a whale of a lyric, a whale of a comedy, and having a whale of a time. The last phrase may be one of the most common formulations, but it is just as separable as the others.
I would support creating a redirect from whale of a to help navigation, as per the comment on talk:hell that led to me creating hell of a. —Soap— 13:21, 28 April 2023 (UTC)
- Well, whale of a time already redirects to have a whale of a time. "whale of a" seems unfinished, though my Oxford lists it, along with have a whale of a time. Also “have a whale of a time”, in Collins English Dictionary. I would recommend Keep as is, or swap the redirect around. DonnanZ (talk) 15:26, 28 April 2023 (UTC)
- Swap with whale of a time, for which "to have" is not the only applicable verb (e.g., 1969, The New Yorker, Vol. 45, Part 3, p. 31: "The children were given a whale of a time, and then put back"; 1957, Time & Tide, Vol. 38, p. 356, "Brighton—the place for a whale of a time"; 2014, Mary Edner, People, Places and Things, p. 20: "I know how to show you a whale of a time". bd2412 T 18:27, 30 April 2023 (UTC)
- Delete both have a whale of a time and whale of a time. I was initially thinking that whale of a time might be kept as a set phrase, but since whale of a can be used with other words, and we already have an appropriate sense at whale (“Something, or someone, that is excellent”), I don’t think any other entries are required. Add the phrases as collocations at whale if desired. — Sgconlaw (talk) 11:18, 1 May 2023 (UTC)
- Redirect have a whale of a time, a whale of a time, whale of a time, and perhaps whale of a to whale per Sgconlaw. - -sche (discuss) 00:36, 11 May 2023 (UTC)
- Kept, despite the previous opinions. P. Sovjunk (talk) 20:19, 20 October 2023 (UTC)