IdiomNature
Swedish
Swedishtidens tand
Meaning: The slow decay and wearing away of things through the passage of time, the gradual damage caused by age.
Literally: Time's tooth
Example: “Tidens tand har gnagt på den gamla kyrkan.” — Time has worn away at the old church.
Origin: Time pictured as gnawing everything away goes back to Latin: Ovid calls time edax rerum, "devourer of things," in the Metamorphoses. Shakespeare has "the tooth of time" in Measure for Measure, and German says der Zahn der Zeit. Swedish tidens tand is the slow wear of age.
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