Meaning
A very long time; ages. 'Mi nuh see yuh fi donkey years' means I haven't seen you in ages, an age and a half. The image plays on the donkey's long life and its long ears, stretching the phrase to picture a great span of time gone by. A warm, common exaggeration of everyday talk, it is the affectionate way of greeting someone not seen in a long while and of marking how long a stretch has passed, one of the fond, homely turns of phrase the language uses to measure a long absence.
Examples
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Mi nuh see yuh fi donkey years!
I haven't seen you in ages!
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Dat house deh empty fi donkey years.
That house has been empty for a very long time.
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Mi know him from donkey years.
I've known him for ages.
Origin
From the idiom 'donkey's years' (a play on 'donkey's ears' = long); an expression for a long time. See [[likkle-more]].
How it’s used
'A very long time / ages.' See [[likkle-more]], [[one-day-one-day]].