"Once upon a time" is a stock phrase used to introduce a narrative of past events, typically in fairy tales and folk tales. It has been used in some form since at least 1380 (according to the Oxford English Dictionary) in storytelling in the English language and has opened many oral narratives since 1600. These stories often then end with "and they all lived happily ever after", or, originally, "happily until their deaths".
The phrase is particularly common in fairy tales for younger children, where it is almost always the opening line of a tale. It was commonly used in the original translations of the stories of Charles Perrault as a translation for the French "il était une fois", of Hans Christian Andersen as a translation for the Danish "der var engang", (literally "there was once"), the Brothers Grimm as a translation for the German "es war einmal" (literally "it was once") and Joseph Jacobs in English translations and fairy tales.
The phrase is also frequently used in such oral stories as retellings of myths, fables, folklore and children's literature.
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Other languages
The "story-starting phrase" is a common feature of many languages.
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Modern variants
- Don McLean's "American Pie" begins with the phrase "A long, long time ago...".
- All nine of the Star Wars films, as well as several of the expanded universe novels, begin with the phrase "A long time ago in a galaxy far far away....".
- The musical Into the Woods begins with the Narrator's line, "Once upon a time." The second act commences with his line, "Once upon a time... later..." The musical is a retelling of many famous fairy tales.
- In the Singaporean comedy series Under One Roof, Moses Lim's character Tan Ah Teck begins his stories with "Long before your time, in the southern province of China ...".
- In the 2010 Edgar Wright film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, the opening scene narrates the words "Not so long ago, in the mysterious land of Toronto, Canada."
- The opening line of the theme song to MST3k is: "In the not-too-distant future ... next Sunday, A.D."
- Bionicle features the line "In a time, before time...".
- The opening line of the TV series Merlin features the line "In a land of myth, and a time of magic..."
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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