in two shakes

English

Alternative forms

• in a brace of shakes
• in a few shakes
• in two shakes of a cow's tail
• in two shakes of a dog's tail
• in two shakes of a duck's tail
• in two shakes of a lamb's tail
• in two shakes of a rabbit's ass

Pronunciation

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Adverb

in two shakes

1. (dated, idiomatic) Very quickly; without delay.
   • 1906, Edith Nesbit, chapter 2, in The Railway Children:

     She tried to get the case open. . . . "I wish Father was here," said Phyllis; "he'd get it open in two shakes."

   • 1910, William MacLeod Raine, chapter 5, in A Texas Ranger:

     I'll have coffee ready in two shakes of a cow's tail.

   • 1922, Agatha Christie', chapter 19, in The Secret Adversary:

     I'll be back in two shakes of a dog's tail.

   • 1922, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter 16, in Right Ho, Jeeves:

     In two shakes of a duck's tail Gussie, with all that lapping about inside him, will be distributing the prizes at Market Snodsbury Grammar School .

   • 2005 December 15, Adrian Higgins, “And All the Trimmings”, in Washington Post, page H01:

     Skilled sheep shearers can get the wool off a ewe in two shakes of a lamb's tail.

Translations

very quickly

• Czech: raz dva (cs), než bys řekl švec (cs)
• Finnish: tuota pikaa (fi)
• French: en deux temps trois mouvements (fr)
• Icelandic: í einum grænum
• Italian: in un batter d'occhio
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: på null komma niks

• Polish: w mgnieniu oka (pl)
• Russian: в два счёта (v dva sčóta)
• Spanish: en menos que canta un gallo, en un dos por tres, en volandas