ago

a while back

At some point in the past. I bought this dress a while back but have never had a chance to wear it.
See also: back, while

four score and seven years ago

Eighty-seven years ago. (A "score" is a set of 20 items.) The iconic first line of US President Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, the speech he delivered at the dedication of the national cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Lincoln gave this speech in 1863—87 years after 1776, the year of the founding of the United States. Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
See also: ago, and, four, score, seven, year

long ago

1. adverb At a point or during a period of time long before the present. I traveled to India so long ago that it feels like a distant dream now.
2. noun A point or period of time long before the present. His poetry is haunted by the myths and memories of long ago.
See also: ago, long

many moons ago

A long time in the past. I used to be quite the athlete, many moons ago.
See also: ago, many, moon
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

a while back

Also, a while ago. Some time in the past, as in I ran into Barbara a while back but didn't get her new address, or John wrote me a while ago about his new baby. This term uses a while in the sense of "a short or moderate time," a usage dating from about 1300.
See also: back, while

long ago

A time well before the present, the distant past. For example, I read that book long ago, or The battles of long ago were just as fierce. [Second half of 1300s]
See also: ago, long
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

many moons ago

a long time ago. informal
The reference here is to the phases of the moon marking out the months.
See also: ago, many, moon
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

many ˈmoons ago

(literary) a very long time ago: Many moons ago, when I was young...
See also: ago, many, moon
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary

long ago

1. At a time or during a period well before the present: I read that book long ago.
2. A time well before the present: heroes of long ago.
See also: ago, long
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.
See also:
  • a while back
  • come back and see us
  • be/go back to square one
  • back to square one
  • back
  • back at (something or some place)
  • echo back to
  • break one's neck, to
  • back door
  • be back on the rails
References in classic literature
"Only think," he cried, "half an hour ago we had never seen each other, we regarded each other as enemies; there is a matter unsettled between us; we've thrown it aside, and away we've gone into the abstract!
I have taken nothing but what Marfa Petrovna gave me a year ago. That's enough for me.
If there were a millionth fraction of self-interest in my offer, I should not have made it so openly; and I should not have offered her ten thousand only, when five weeks ago I offered her more, Besides, I may, perhaps, very soon marry a young lady, and that alone ought to prevent suspicion of any design on Avdotya Romanovna.
Fragmentary ramidus fossils from elsewhere in Ethiopia date to more than 5 million years ago (SN: 7/14/01, p.
airlines increased their average prices for flying passengers and cargo by 2.5% from a month ago and 8.7% from the same month a year earlier.
Steiper of Hunter College of the City University of New York and his colleagues first consulted the latest fossil evidence to estimate that the human evolutionary family separated from chimps' ancestors between 6 million and 7 million years ago, while the macaque monkey lineage diverged from its baboon ancestors between 5 million and 7 million years ago.
In January 2008, wholesale jet fuel prices soared another 9.3% from a month ago and stood 54.9% above year-ago price levels.
Until now, the earliest chemical evidence of wine came from Iranian jars from about 7,4,00 years ago. Middle Eastern beer-brewing sites date to roughly 5,000 years ago (SN: 10/2/04, p.
Sequentially too, net profit increased 37.6 percent from Rs 3,726 crore quarter ago.
The various feeding ratios of aGO are 0.2 wt%, 0.5 wt%, 1.0 wt%, and 5.0 wt%, and the samples are designated as aGO/PP/PS0.2, aGO/PP/PS-0.5, aGO/PP/PS-1.0, and aGO/PP/PS-5.0, respectively.
Five were issued 10 to 15 years ago and two more than 20 years ago.
A fossil jaw and tooth belonging to a hominid species date to 1.2 million years ago.
In Nassau, Long Island's most-populous county, the overall vacancy rate declined to 9.79 percent, from 10.32 percent three months earlier, but was higher than the figure one year ago, 9.68 percent.
Total domestic sales in August declined 6.7% compared to the same month a year ago. Step WGN was Honda's best-selling car for the month and the industry's fourth best-selling model in August on sales of 8,130 units.