I know this! "A while" is the same length as a piece of string, whether spoken or written.
I've not been around the forum for 'a while'for personnel reasons. A while for me has been 3 weeks so far although Ive popped in this morning.
So to your answer 'A while' to me means no time limit
Changing the subject, but only very slightly.
When I first went to China I was at the reception desk of the hotel waiting to book in, and the receptionist said "Just a moment".
The person with me had lived in China for a while (!!), he took a sharp intake of breath, and warned me that I could be waiting for hours. He wasn't far wrong.
Back on the subject of while. There are variations on the theme. A good while usually means a long time. Funnily enough, a little while also often means a long time, as does quite a while.
And while (!!) we're at it, the Americans use the word "momentarily" to mean something different than we do. When the pilot says, "We will be landing momentarily" he doesn't mean that we will land and then take off again almost immediately! He means we are about to land (presumably in a little less than a while).
Hope everyone is suitably confused.
Steve
a while could be until you are happy to return.
we all sometimes have our we want to keep them private and just go away from it all.
I understand anyone who wants to break for a bit.
A while is forever when you are 5...
How long is a piece of string??
A while is relative - usually to what went before.
If I've been on here every 12 hours for two years then if I don't come on for two days - that's a while.
If I come on every three weeks for two years then 3 months is a while.
.
Longer than 'soon' and not as long as 'never' :smug: