BY A LONG CHALK

I found this phrase while re-reading Terry Pratchett's final novel, “The Shepherd's Crown” (highly recommended). The phrase “by a long chalk” means “by far” in British English, while “not by a long chalk” means “not at all”, but why chalk?

 Apparently, the “long chalk” was the length of a line of chalk marks or tallies drawn on a blackboard, possibly for scoring during a pub game or in a classroom. If you had a much longer line of chalk marks against your name than others, you were far ahead of them. [1]


 Examples

 “I was taking the first steps on the most ambitious voyage I had ever attempted by a long chalk.”

 “The Last Hero, by the late, great Sir Terry, is not his longest book, not by a long chalk.”

 “Working on the Climate Change Act was probably the most productive six months of my life, by a long chalk.”

 “They say that old men forget, but we won’t. Not by a long chalk.” [2]


 [1] Cresswell, Julia. “chalk.” In The Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, Oxford University Press, 2009.
 [2] Pratchett, Terry. The Shepherd’s Crown (Discworld Novels) (p. 317). RHCP. Kindle Edition.

 Photo credit: Stephanie Asher (Creative Commons)

 Updated Wednesday 18 March 2020