once in a blue moon

English

Etymology

See blue moon. First use appears c. 1833. See cite below.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wʌns ɪn ə bluː muːn/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Adverb

once in a blue moon (not comparable)

1. (idiomatic) Very rarely; very infrequently.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:rarely

   Coordinate term: once in a purple moon

   • 1833, J. Lection (publisher), The Athenæum, page 780:

     We are no advocates for the eternal system of producing foreign operas to the exclusion of the works of English composers, but once in a blue moon such a thing may be allowed.

   • 1933, James Hilton, Lost Horizon, published 1973, page 133:

     [T]ime expanded and space contracted, and the name Blue Moon took on a symbolic meaning, as if the future, so delicately plausible, were of a kind that might happen once in a blue moon only.

Translations

very rarely

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 千載難逢 / 千载难逢 (cin¹ zoi² naan⁴ fung⁴), 十年唔逢一閏 / 十年唔逢一闰 (sap⁶ nin⁴ m⁴ fung⁴ jat¹ jeon⁶)

  Mandarin: 千載難逢 / 千载难逢 (zh) (qiānzǎinánféng)

• Czech: jednou za uherský rok (cs)
• Dutch: eens in de zoveel tijd
• Esperanto: ege malofte
• Finnish: todella harvoin
• French: tous les trente-six du mois (fr) (on every thirty-sixth day of the month), une fois toutes les lunes
• Georgian: ათასში ერთხელ (atasši ertxel)
• German: alle Jubeljahre (de)
• Greek: στη χάση και στη φέξη (el) (sti chási kai sti féxi)
• Irish: uair sna naoi n-aird, uair umá seach
• Italian: una volta ogni morte di papa, ogni morte di papa
• Japanese: ごくまれに (gokumare ni)
• Polish: raz na ruski rok (pl), od wielkiego dzwonu (pl)
• Portuguese: de vez em nunca (pt), uma vez na vida, outra na morte
• Russian: раз в сто ле́т (raz v sto lét) (once every hundred years)
• Scottish Gaelic: uair san ràith
• Slovak: raz za uhorský rok
• Spanish: cada muerte de obispo (es), de guindas a brevas, de higos a brevas, de Pascuas a Ramos (es), de ciento a viento (es), de ciento en viento (es)
• Thai: มากไม่ค่อย
• Turkish: kırk yılda bir

See also

• never event
• once-in-a-lifetime