Word.ws English Dictionary

two twos

two twos noun: a very short time; a jiffy.

Noun

two twos pl (plural only)

  1. (Jamaica, Trinidad-and-Tobago, plural, plural-only) A very short time; a jiffy.
    • Never mind appearances; it's performance and accomplishment we're going for, and within two twos we shall have done two-thirds of the feat.1911 September, T. Scott Anderson, “Fox, Grouse, and Salmon”, in The Badminton Magazine, volume 33, number 194, page 325
    • The slight contretemps claimed her attention but in two twos she set that little matter to rights.1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 13: Nausicaa]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC, part II [Odyssey], page 347

Adverb

two twos (not comparable)

  1. (Multicultural-London-English) Suddenly, right then, presently.
    • Two twos the mandem gave this likkle yute a deafaz.
    • Two twos one yout start swearing / Then one of them South youts bottled him up on the floor, then after that... yeah the ravers just aired him2007, “4 O'Clock” (track 20), in The Chupa Chups Mixtape, performed by Bashy

Examples of two twos in a sentence

  • They begin to work on the song, and One Foot so good that in two twos he fix up a tune.1960, Samuel Selvon, “Calypsonian”, in Andrew Salkey, editor, West Indian Stories, London: Faber and Faber, page 113:
  • If the little 'un sits on Lily's knee, they'll be off in two twos.2016, Helen Dunmore, Exposure, London: Hutchinson, →ISBN, page 264:
  • Had a good girl she told me lies as well / Two twos I started telling lies as well2018 September 21, “CRB Check” (track 3), in TEN10, performed by Chip:
  • I got nothing to lose / Two twos, I'm outtie2020 March 27, “ROOF” (track 9), in Before Love Came to Kill Us, performed by Jessie Reyez:

Forms of two twos

alternative formtwo-twos
alternative formtwotwos

Origin of two twos

In early use attested in Irish contexts and works by Irish authors; likely spread to the Caribbean by Irish indentured servants who migrated to the West Indies (see Irish Caribbean on WikipediaWikipedia ). Then spread further by Jamaican immigrants to Canada and the United Kingdom.

Questions about two twos

What does two twos mean?
Two twos means a very short time; a jiffy.
How do you use two twos in a sentence?
They begin to work on the song, and One Foot so good that in two twos he fix up a tune.
What part of speech is two twos?
Two twos can be a noun or an adverb.

Words near two twos in the dictionary

  1. two thousand and late
  2. two thousands
  3. two thumbs up
  4. two times
  5. two touch
  6. two twos
  7. two up
  8. two upon ten
  9. Two Waters
  10. two week millionaire
  11. two week millionaires

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: two twos (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-two twos.wav.

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