Before You Can Say Jack Robinson Idiom American Expressions and American Idioms - What does Before You Can Say Jack Robinson Idiom mean?

This database is a comprehensive collection of all the American idioms and slang available. American Idioms are many and varied. We hope you enjoy our collection. We are adding more all the time. .

Before you can say Jack Robinson What does Before you can say Jack Robinson mean?	The term Jack Robinson represents 'a short amount of time'. When you do something before you can say Jack Robinson, you do it very quickly.
	Some Random Idioms
get into a stew about/over (someone or something) What does "get into a stew about/over (someone or something)" mean?	to be worried or upset about someone or something	My mother is getting into a stew over my aunt not phoning.

Beat your brains out What does "Beat your brains out" mean?	If you beat your brains out, you think hard about something but cannot solve, understand or remember it.
shut off What does "shut off" mean?	to be apart, to be separated from someone or something	The small town is shut off from the other small towns in the valley.
cold fish What does "cold fish" mean?	a person who is unfriendly or does not mix with others	The man is a cold fish and he has very few friends.
think nothing of (something) What does "think nothing of (something)" mean?	to not worry or be concerned about something	When my friend goes out he thinks nothing of spending most of his money at one time.
not show one's face What does "not show one's face" mean?	to not appear	We asked the man to not show his face at our restaurant if he was not going to behave properly.
back down What does "back down" mean?	to yield in one's position during negotiations, to not follow up on a threat	The government backed down on their threat to stop giving money to the school district.
habu What does "habu" mean?	SR-71 (also called the Blackbird) aircraft

cast one's lot in with (someone) What does "cast one's lot in with (someone)" mean?	to join with someone and accept whatever happens - good or bad	The woman cast her lot in with the new company and worked hard to make it a success.
in the black What does "in the black" mean?	to be successful or profitable	Our company has been in the black since they began to cut costs.
Poacher turned gamekeeper What does "Poacher turned gamekeeper" mean?	Someone who gets a legitimate job which is the opposite of their previous one. E.G a computer hacker who then helps to catch other hackers or an ex-bank robber who then advises banks on security.
play into (someone`s) hands What does "play into (someone`s) hands" mean?	to do something that another person can use against you or can use to his or her advantage	If you become angry at the man's extreme actions it will only play into his hands.
wait-and-see attitude What does "wait-and-see attitude" mean?	an uncertain attitude where you wait and see what will happen	We decided to take a wait-and-see attitude regarding what our new boss was going to do.

American Idioms and Expressions

Before You Can Say Jack Robinson Idiom