It has been there for donkey’s years (where did that expression come from? Keep reading to find out.) with the same family ownership, but now it has suddenly gone. It’s the kiosk near Plaza Marina on avenida Castilla Perez. A bit like the one that used to always be in Plaza Cavana, part of the furniture as it were.
The earliest reference to donkey’s years meaning ‘a long time’ seems to date back to the 1920’s and since then it has become popular slang for ‘years and years’.
However, pre-dating ‘donkey’s years’ is the expression ‘donkey’s ears’ meaning ‘years and years’.
Now for my first bath for what the men call ‘Donkey’s ears’, meaning years and years.
This is from The Vermillion Box by E.V. (Edward Verrall) Lucas published in 1916.
It is most likely that the term originated in rhyming slang – donkey’s ears/years, just like plates of meat/feet and the like. Donkey’s ears are, of course, quite long.
From donkey’s ears it evolved into donkey’s years, no longer rhyming slang but that doesn’t appear to have bothered anyone. This transition was possibly aided by the general belief that donkeys also live for a relatively long time, which they do. And so it remains to this day.