It's been forever

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hi,

I want to know about the phrase ‘‘it’s been forever’’.

Can we use it for a well know name of a store that it’s been in business long time ago and still it’s running… i mean the store?

I’ve heard this phrase yesterday into a movie namely ‘‘you’ve got mail’’.

2

The phrase does not work with your store. ‘It’s been forever’ = ‘It’s been a very long time’, where ‘it’ is just a marker; it has no referent.

3

Hi,

Then, what’s the proper word would be usefull in this case, Mister?

Maybe ‘‘Old store’’? … I’m guessing.

4

Are you sure the dialogue wasn’t 'It’s been around forever,'or ‘It’s been here forever’?

Those are phrases that make sense. In informal English, things can, for emphasis, be described as being there ‘forever’, although common sense indicates that this can’t be the case. It’s a form of accepted exaggeration to explain that something has been there for a very long time.

5

Yes, Perhaps I didn’t pick the phrase so well.

then ‘‘it’s been here/around forever’’… like when I say ‘‘The issue takes forever to be done’’.

Beeesneees,

Thank you for correcting me.