what does ONCE UPON A TIME actually mean?

Question

we say it at the beginning of stories but it occured to me the other day that the sentence actually makes no sense at all

can anyone explain why we say it this way

it just seems muddly

thanks for your answers


xxx


vici

Answer 1

At a time in the past.
Example: Once upon a time, there were three little pigs.....
At a time in the past, there were three little.....
The saying is very old, and sometimes the way things used to be said seem strange to us.

Answer 2

once upon a time

long ago. I had worked for some big companies once upon a time, but later I was self-employed.
Usage notes: often used to begin a children's story: Once upon a time, in a far-off kingdom, there lived a beautiful princess.
Etymology: based on the use of once upon a time with the same meaning to begin a child's story

once upon a time (literary)

1. a long time ago. Once upon a time there lived a young girl called Cinderella.
2. if you say that something happened once upon a time, you mean that it happened in the past and you wish that it still happened now. Once upon a time, everyone knew each other in this town and nobody bothered locking their doors.

Once upon a time as the beginning of a story is recorded from 1595.

Answer 3

It means that the event being told happened at an indescribable time, as if happening in an alternate world.

Answer 4

In the past
Formerly
Some time ago