When someone says “a while,” how long do they mean? Is there a set timeframe for “a while”? I just find it so vague.
Share
Sign Up to our social questions and Answers Engine to ask questions, answer people’s questions, and connect with other people.
Login to our social questions & Answers Engine to ask questions answer people’s questions & connect with other people.
Lost your password? Please enter your email address. You will receive a link and will create a new password via email.
Please briefly explain why you feel this question should be reported.
Please briefly explain why you feel this answer should be reported.
Please briefly explain why you feel this user should be reported.
It’s hard to say. There’s no set timeframe equivalent to “a while,” which is kinda its point because people use “a while” as a stall tactic when they can’t give you an exact timeframe.
I agree with the previous comment that it’s used as a stalling mechanism most of the time when the speaker is not sure of how long their “a while” is going to take and can’t give you even an estimate of a period of time.
This site, though, said that there’s a study that “discovered “a while” estimates a length of 4 months whereas “a little while” would be a little less at 3 months’ time. Going a little further, “a while back” would indicate the potential of occurring up to 8 months in the past.” Which is still quite vague, but there’s that.
I believe “a while” differs per speaker. Most of us don’t think 4 months when we say “a while” :/