List of idioms of improbability
There are many idioms of improbability, used to denote that something is impossible or unlikely to occur.
- Flying pig (main article)
- A flying pig is a symbol of an impossible event coming to pass. The popular saying "[it will happen] when pigs fly" (or when pigs have wings) is traditionally used to mean that the specified event will never occur.
- Cold hell
- Rises from the general belief that hell is an extremely hot place. Expressions include "A cold day in hell", "When hell freezes over" and "A snowball's chance in hell."
- If wishes were horses, beggars would ride (article)
- Once in a blue moon (article)
- Twelfth of Never (article on song title)
In other languages
- Arabic has a wide range of idioms differing from a region to another. In some Arab countries of the Persian Gulf people would say "إذا حجت البقرة على قرونها", which literally means "when the cow goes on pilgrimage on its horns" to express impossibility. In Egypt, they say "في المشمش", meaning "when the apricots bloom". Other Arab people -mainly Palestinian- use the expression "لما ينور الملح", which roughly translates into "when salt blossoms", which is futile because salt isn't a plant.
- In Hebrew, a common idiom expressing improbability is "when hair grows on the palm of my hand" ("כשיצמחו שיערות על כף ידי"), a part of the human body where hair never grows.
- Latin had the expression ad kalendas graecas (to the Greek Kalends) for indefinite postponement. The Greek calendar had no calends.
- In French, the expression is à la Saint-Glinglin (on Saint Glinglin's day). Glinglin is a nonsense rhyme for saint. Another expression is la semaine des quatres jeudis (the week of the four Thursdays) as in "that will happen (or not) during the week of the four Thursdays." Another expression is quand les poules auront des dents (when hens have teeth). The expression aux calendes grecques (to the Greek Calends) is also used for indefinite postponement.
- In Portuguese the equivalent expression is "no dia de São Nunca à tarde" ("in the afternoon of Saint Never's day").
- In Spanish, something that will never happen is often referred to as "cuando las vacas vuelen" ("when cows fly"). Its most common use is in response to an affirmative statement, for example "I saw Mrs. Smith exercising, I swear!" to which the response given would be something like, "Yeah right, and cows fly." Other variations slightly fallen into disuse include "cuando las ranas crien pelo" (when frogs grow hair) and "cuando San Juan agache el dedo" (when Saint John bends his finger). The latter one is a reference to the common depiction of St. John with one or two extended fingers.
- In German "Wenn Schweine fliegen können!" is identical with the English saying "when pigs fly", although the older proverb "Wenn Schweine Flügel hätten, wäre alles möglich" (if pigs had wings, everything would be possible) is in more common use, often edited on the second part to something impossible, like "if pigs had wings, even your idea might work". Another phrase is "Am Sankt-Nimmerleins-Tag" (on St. Never's Day).
- In Dutch, the expression is "met Sint-Juttemis, als de kalveren op het ijs dansen" (usually shortened to just "met Sint-Juttemis"), meaning "on Saint Juttemis day, when the calves are dancing on the ice". This Saint Juttemis is usually thought to be a fictional saint in the vein of Saint Glinglin but is in fact real. Therefore Saint Juttemis day is an actual day (the 17th of August) and this makes saying just "on Saint Juttemis day" when you mean never a prime example of irony. The adding of the phrase "when the calves are dancing on the ice" is what makes the phrase impossible, because it never freezes on the 17th of August in the Netherlands. Another commonly used phrase in Dutch is "als Pasen en Pinksteren op één dag vallen" meaning "when Easter and Pentecost are celebrated on the same day".
- In Russian, the expression is "когда рак на горе свистнет" (kogdá rak na goré svístnet) - "when the crawfish whistles on the mountain".
- Albanian has the expression "ne 36 gusht" - (on August 36) to show something that is impossible to happen.
- In Finnish, the expression is "sitten kun lehmät lentävät" - when the cows fly. Also "jos lehmällä olisi siivet, se lentäisi" (if cow had wings, it would fly), implying futile speculations.
- In Persian, the expression is "وقت گل نی" (vaght e gol e ney) - "when the reed plant blossoms".
- In Tagalog, the vernacular is "kapag puti ng uwak, kapag itim ng tagak" - (when the crow turns white, when the egret turns black). Note the euphony between the nouns uwak and tagak.
See also