Opportunity slips away in an instant - time won't wait for us.
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history
Echoes 论语·阳货: 日月逝矣，岁不我与 - 'the sun and moon pass; the years are not with us.' The modern form 时不我待 preserves the classical object-fronting grammar (我待 = 待我, 'wait for me'), which makes it feel compact and urgent.
grammar
Classical grammar: in negated clauses, object pronouns move BEFORE the verb (我待 instead of 待我). This is why the phrase is not 时不待我. Same pattern in 时不我与 and 岁不我与.
