many moons ago
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
My downhill skiing was a little rusty to say the least, but a few too many moons ago I'd just about cracked parallel turns, and I felt in need of a brush up.
When I got my first laser printer many moons ago, my bank manager almost had a heart attack.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Metaphor (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Common questions
What does “many moons ago” mean?
A long time ago.
Is “many moons ago” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.