How Long Is a Moment?

(via Atlas Obscura)  hen you take “a moment to think,” how long do you need? “In a moment” probably means quite soon. “For a moment” is somehow instantaneous—a flash of misunderstanding or emotion that passes like a gust of wind. “At the moment” refers to an indefinite period of time: however long now is, or until something changes. The Oxford English Dictionary lists nearly a dozen idioms that pivot around the word “moment.” Each suggests something slightly different.