Phrase: Back in the day

"Back in the day" refers to a time in the past, especially a period of time that the speaker remembers fondly; some unspecified time ago. 

Example: “Back in the day, we got all our music on vinyl records.”

Although back in the day is usually used to express nostalgia about when the speaker was younger, and also to complain about the present, it can be used in a more practical sense to simply refer to a time in the past in which a particular thing was different.

It can also refer to a time in the distant past, even before the speaker was born, although the idiom ‘in the old days’ is more likely to be appropriate.


Examples Sentences


“Back in the day, we didn’t spend all our time staring at phones. We actually talked to each other.”


“Saturday Night Live was much funnier back in the day. I don’t know why I keep watching it.”


“He was a great actor back in the day. Nowadays he just keeps playing the same character with the same ridiculous accent.”


“Did you really compete in the Olympics back in the day?”


Sentences related to "back in the day"

  • "She looked up some friends of bygone years."
  • In the past, there were no smartphones.
  • "Things were different back then."
  • "A long time ago, many black people were taken to America as slaves."


Origin

This idiom has its origins in the latter half of the 1900s, having gained popularity during the 1980s and 90s.

It featured particularly in rap lyrics of the day and may have been particular to black culture in the United States, although this is difficult to verify. Today it is used more widely.

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