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Origin documented
“An Irish mile”
What it means
A distance that turns out much longer than promised.
Where it comes from
The Irish mile really was longer, at 2,240 yards against the English 1,760, because it was built on a perch of seven yards rather than five and a half.
How sure are we?
Attested in English usage from the seventeenth century, and unlike most such expressions it rests on a genuine and considerable difference rather than on a national slur. The unit appeared on Irish milestones into the nineteenth century.