before you know it
In a flash
Before you know it indicates something will happen very soon or more quickly than expected.
The phrase emphasizes how time passes without conscious awareness: Before you know it, the kids will be off to college.
It often carries a note of warning or wistfulness about how fast circumstances change.
- in no timeAlmost immediately
- momentBrief period of time
- instantBriefest unit of time
- like lightningWith extreme swiftness
- suddenlyWithout prior indication
in the blink of an eye · in a heartbeat · all of a sudden · flash · fleeting · out of the blue · just like that · surprise · soon · time flies · at once · ephemeral · second · poof · transformation · minute · at the drop of a hat · immediate
- Speed Expressionsin a flash, quick as a flash, in no time, lickety-split, lickety split
- futureforthcoming, upcoming, coming, impending, imminent
- soon synonymssoon, shortly, presently, momentarily, imminently
- Quick wordsinstant, swift, rapid, fast, speedy
- urgencyurgent, urgently, emergency, ASAP, stat
- suddennesssudden, suddenly, abrupt, abruptly, instant
before you know itgradually
In slow stages
little by little · bit by bit · slowly but surely · at a snail's pace · inch by inch
before you know itas expected
before you know iteventually
At a later time
in due time · sooner or later · slowly but surely · in time · at long last