"four score and seven years ago" meaning in English

See four score and seven years ago in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adverb

IPA: /ˈfɔː skɔː‿ɹən ˌsɛvən jɪəz əˌɡəʊ/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˈfɔɹ skɔɹ ən ˌsɛvən jɪɹz əˌɡoʊ/ [General-American] Audio: En-au-four score and seven years ago.ogg
Etymology: Literally, “87 years ago” (score sense: “group of 20”) the beginning of the Gettysburg Address made on November 19, 1863, by United States President Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865). The widespread familiarity of Lincoln’s address, the unusual and poetic wording, and its status as the first words of the speech have caused the phrase to enter the public consciousness. Etymology templates: {{m-g|87 years ago}} “87 years ago”, {{lit|87 years ago}} Literally, “87 years ago” Head templates: {{en-adv|-|head=four score and seven years ago}} four score and seven years ago (not comparable)
  1. (idiomatic, often humorous) Used (sometimes sarcastically) to indicate that a past event being mentioned is particularly important: a long time ago; many years ago. Wikipedia link: Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address Tags: humorous, idiomatic, not-comparable, often Categories (topical): American Civil War, Four, Historical events, Historical numbers, Past, Seven, Time Synonyms: fourscore and seven years ago, four score seven years ago
    Sense id: en-four_score_and_seven_years_ago-en-adv-mW~rc5hN Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries

Alternative forms

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          "text": "I imagined momentarily that it was four score and seven years ago, that I had just been brought forth from my mother […]",
          "type": "quote"
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          "ref": "2012 February 20, Vicky DeCoster, “The Letter”, in The Wacky World of Womanhood, →ISBN, page 93:",
          "text": "Four score and seven years ago, I began writing an annual letter to be enclosed in my Christmas cards.",
          "type": "quote"
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          "text": "Four score and seven years ago, I began writing an annual letter to be enclosed in my Christmas cards.",
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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-11-21 using wiktextract (95d2be1 and 64224ec). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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