for a change
prep_phrase1
Idiomatic As a departure from the usual (whether deliberate or not).
- He had had a hard time in the City, so he explained. Harris, who is callous in his nature, and not prone to pity, said: "Ah! and now you are going to have a hard time on the river for a change; change is good for everyone. Out you get!"1889, Jerome K. Jerome, chapter 9, in Three Men in a Boat […] :
- If you've had "nuff" of "the blood of the lamb," Then join in the grand Industrial band; If, for a change, you would have eggs and ham, Then come! Do your share, like a man.1913, Joe Hill, There Is Power in a Union:
3 more examples
- "I've supported her for seventeen years. Why shouldn't she support herself for a change?"1919, W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence:
- 1931, Robert E. Howard, The TNT Punch (alternate titles: The Waterfront Law, and The Waterfront Wallop), "... But I ain't all softness and mush--feel this here for a change!" And I closed the Kid's eye with a smashing left hander.
- 1993 February 17, Bill Clinton, speech, First State of the Union Address, I'd like to use that Superfund to clean up pollution for a change and not just pay lawyers.