This is an old Poker idiom - if you had someone who kept losing big money, you would say "I'd like to get him on a slow boat to China," meaning you would like to be in a situation where you would play Poker for a long time and win lots of money.
Nowadays, it just means anything that takes a long, long time
Slow Boat to China was created in 1986-05.
takin too long to do something
Jimmy Buffet has a song called, "Slow Boat to China"
- I'd Like to Get You on a - Slow Boat to China was created in 1947.
The cast of Slow Boat to China - 2003 includes: Roger Clown as Lead
not easily be angry or upset
By Plane or dig a deep hole. You can also take the slow boat to China.
The song (I'd Like to Get You on a) Slow Boat to China was written by Frank Loesser in 1948. Many people have recorded this pop standard, such as: Jimmy Buffett, Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Ella Fitzgerald, and Liza Minnelli.
Slow off the mark means exactly what it says. In track and field the runners are told, On Your Mark, Get Set, Go! If one of them gets off to a slow start then they are slow off the mark which is the line on the track where they are supposed to begin running. This represents an expression and not an idiom or slang.
It means that the person is slow to catch on... isn't understanding things as quickly as other people.
It's not really an idiom. It's something you say when someone is either talking too rapidly and you want them to slow down, or they are getting too excited over something.
A fast boat produces a wider bow wave compared to a slow boat. This is because the speed of the boat affects the size and shape of the bow wave generated as it moves through the water.