In the blink of an eye

Helen
Hello and welcome to The English We Speak. I’m Helen and joining me today is Sian.

Sian
Hi everyone. It’s nice to take things slowly after the weekend.

Helen
Have you been running around a lot?

Sian
Well, I did a 10K charity run with my nephew for his school.

Helen
And how did it go? Were you prepared for it?

Sian
I have to say the kids did much better than me. I was almost the last one to finish the race.

Helen
And how long did that take you?

Sian
Maybe six hours!

Helen
Em. That is slow. What about the young runners?

Sian
They were gone in the blink of an eye.

Helen
Do you mean they were fast?

Sian That’s right. When we say something happens in the blink of an eye, it means ‘very fast’, ‘very quickly’. It’s a common expression in English to give a sense of fast speed. Here are a few examples:

Examples
My new computer can download a large video in the blink of an eye.

We were so tired after the party; everyone was fast asleep in the blink of an eye.

Sarah couldn’t believe that the first two years of university went in the blink of an eye.

Helen
So this expression ‘in the blink of an eye’ doesn’t only refer to running speed, it can also describe when time goes quickly.

Sian
That’s right. It’s often used when changes are happening very fast. And it can be shortened to ‘in a blink’.

Examples
A 70-story skyscraper just rose from the ground in a blink.

I couldn’t believe the transformation in Sarah; she went from a shy sixteen-year-old with braces to an outspoken youth MP in a blink.

Helen
Well, in the blink of an eye. We’ve finished our programme.

Sian
That went really quickly. Goodbye.

Helen
Goodbye.