old as the hills
Preserved but no longer current.
Very old indeed. Hinc iliac lachrymfle (hingk il e lak' ri me) (Lat., "hence those tears." Terence, Andria, I, i, 99). This was the real offence; this was the true secret of the annoyance; the real source of the vexation.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “old as the hills” mean?
Very old indeed. Hinc iliac lachrymfle (hingk il e lak' ri me) (Lat., "hence those tears." Terence, Andria, I, i, 99). This was the real offence; this was the true secret of the annoyance; the real source of the vexation.
Is “old as the hills” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.