Is there a phrase or idiom to describe a situation which happens rarely?
I want to use that phrase in these sentences:
You have rarely beaten me in wrestling.
Crimes used to happen rarely in Indiana.
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1Why do "rarely" and "rare" not work for you?– AIQCommented Jun 7, 2020 at 5:29
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2 Answers
I would use “count on the fingers of one hand”.
According to Cambridge dictionary:
If you could count something on (the fingers of) one hand, it does not happen very often or exists in very small numbers.
You could rephrase your sentences as:
I can count the number of times you have beaten me in wrestling on the fingers of one hand.
One can count the crimes that used to happen in Indiana on the fingers of one hand.
answered Jun 7, 2020 at 5:36
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That should be: "One can count the crimes that used to happen in Indiana on the fingers of one hand." Commented Jun 7, 2020 at 8:28
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@Primemover I didn’t notice that I didn’t write “that” here. Thank you. Commented Jun 7, 2020 at 8:41
There are a number of such phrases. Two fun ones are:
once in a blue moon
not once (or "never") in a month of Sundays (when emphasising that it's so rare you'd hardly expect it to happen at all)
