very like a whale
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English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From an exchange between Hamlet and Polonius (discussing the shape of a cloud) in William Shakespeare's play Hamlet.
Adjective
[edit]very like a whale (not comparable)
- (slang, humorous) Highly improbable; not to be believed.
- 1859, Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, page 541:
- 'On your way to dine with Sir William Ayr, indeed! Very like a whale that, captain, but not quite so large, you understand!' the sergeant said jeeringly.
References
[edit]- John Camden Hotten (1873) The Slang Dictionary