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By-and-by

now means a little time hence, but when the Bible was translated it meant instantly. “When persecution ariseth … by-and-by he is offended” (Matt. xiii. 21); rendered in Mark iv. 17 by the word “immediately.” Our presently means in a little time hence, but in French présentement means now, directly. Thus in France we see, These apartments to be let presently, meaning now—a phrase which would in English signify by-and-by.

 

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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Buy Off (To)
Buy Out (To)
Buy Over (To)
Buy Up (To)
Buying a Pig in a Poke
Buzfuz (Serjeant)
Buzz
Buzz (A)
Buzzard (The)
By
By-and-by
Bygones
By-laws
By-road (A)
By-the-by
By-the-way
Byron
Byrsa
Byzantine Art
Byzantine Empire (The)
Byzantine Historians
C