Rare or infrequent; occurring only occasionally with long intervals in between. It describes something that doesn't happen often or isn't easily found.
This phrase emerged in the mid-1600s, originally describing the spacing of objects in physical distance - things that were literally few in number and far apart geographically. It gradually expanded to describe temporal spacing and rarity in general.
The phrase works so well because it combines two dimensions of scarcity - numerical rarity ('few') and spatial or temporal distance ('far between'). This double emphasis makes it more powerful than just saying 'rare' because it captures both the shortage and the gaps between occurrences.
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