Oftenly

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

On Aug 23, 2007, at 10:06 PM, Wilson Gray wrote:

> Gerald writes:
>
> "Very few  blends make it to the big-time of the =
> standard language (e.g., "time and again" from "time after time" and =
> "again and again.").
>
> FWIW, though I am, naturally, fully familiar with both "time after
> time" and "again and again," I know "time and again" only as a
> literary or a poetic form. In ordinary, colloquial speech, I am
> accustomed to hearing only "I've told you _time and time again_."

fwiw, OED has "again and again" from 1604 (shakespeare), "time after
time" from 1631, but the others later: "time and again" from 1864,
"time and time again" from 1887.

arnold

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