happen along

present singular third person happens along · participle present happening along · participle past happened along · past happened along

1. idiomaticintransitiveTo arrive by chance; to occur by happenstance.

   Novae, or new stars, are always happening along.

   1928 April 9, “Science: Heavenly Hubbub”, in Time

   3 more examples

   "Now, if a rattling good earthquake were to happen along, you might awake in the morning to find yourself on an island, or even under water."

   1892, Julian Hawthorne, chapter 1, in The Golden Fleece

   "[W]e can't 'spect a cyclone to happen along and take us to the Emerald City now."

   1909, L. Frank Baum, chapter 11, in The Road to Oz

   "Well, you're the one who's always telling me not to leave my purse in the cart, and that's probably what that woman had done, and someone happened along and just took it."

   2001, Linwood Barclay, Bad Move, →ISBN, page 148