does anyone know where the saying "donkeys ages" comes from?

Question

i often hear people saying stuff like;
"wow i havent seen one of those for donkeys"
but as i have no idea where it came from it is a little baffling!!

Answer 1

the saying was originally donkeys ears because they were so long but then this become donkeys years which made more sense then someone ese changed it to donkeys ages which makes no sense at all

Answer 2

it rather is an occasion of an expression that has altered its spelling via the years. "no longer for donkey's ears" ability no longer for an extremely long term and refers back to the dimensions of a donkey's ears. although, they gradually stretched from the "donkey" and grew to become "ears" into "years". The meaning of the expression is the comparable, if it does make slightly much less experience than the unique.

Answer 3

Someone has beaten me to the answer! I have always used the expression "Donkeys Years" this expression is very common in the North of England. Only just discovered that it is in fact a corruption of the expression "donkeys ears" which are of course long!

Answer 4

"Donkey's years" is probably an indication that a donkey lives a long time, or used to compared to other animals. Maybe.
We use that saying all the time, I have no idea where it originated.

Answer 5

Its when a donkey goes to the bog with the paper, it takes donkey ages.

Answer 6

Donkeys live much longer than horses or mules.
'Donkeys years' refers to them being long lived and a good investment as a working animal.
Simple.

Answer 7

The coorect term being "donkeys years". Give Char the 10 points because Char's answer is correct.

Answer 8

I have some Irish friends who say something like: "I haven't seen that for donkey's years", I just assumed it's an Irish expression.