in two shakes

by George! we would souse the Lords o' the Admiralty themselves, if they were here, in a couple of shakes

1833, J. E. Alexander, chapter 18, in Transatlantic Sketches, volume I

She tried to get the case open. . . . "I wish Father was here," said Phyllis; "he'd get it open in two shakes."

1906, Edith Nesbit, chapter 2, in The Railway Children

I'll have coffee ready in two shakes of a cow's tail.

1910, William MacLeod Raine, chapter 5, in A Texas Ranger

In two shakes of a duck's tail Gussie, with all that lapping about inside him, will be distributing the prizes at Market Snodsbury Grammar School.

1922, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter 16, in Right Ho, Jeeves

Skilled sheep shearers can get the wool off a ewe in two shakes of a lamb's tail.

2005 December 15, Adrian Higgins, “And All the Trimmings”, in Washington Post, page H01