When pigs fly / When hell freezes over (2025)

FAQs

When pigs fly / When hell freezes over? ›

Events that can never happen

The phrase 'When Pigs Fly' refers to something that is highly unlikely to ever happen. Example of use: "I might wake up early tomorrow to clean my room". "Yes, you'll do that when pigs fly".

The phrase "when pigs fly" (alternatively, "pigs might fly") is an adynaton—a figure of speech so hyperbolic that it describes an impossibility. The implication of such a phrase is that the circumstances in question (the adynaton, and the circumstances to which the adynaton is being applied) will never occur.

If you say that something will happen when hell freezes over, you mean that it will never happen.

Definition: It's impossible for pigs to fly, so when someone says this, they are saying that something will (most likely) never happen. Examples: “I might wake up early to clean my room…” “Yeah right, you'll do that when pigs fly.”

phrase. If you say `when pigs fly' after someone has said that something might happen, you are emphasizing that you think it is very unlikely. [humorous, informal, emphasis]

said when you think that there is no chance at all of something happening: "I'll have finished it by tomorrow." "And pigs can fly!" SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases. Impossible and improbable.

Events that can never happen

As a response to an unlikely proposition, "when pigs fly", "when pigs have wings", or simply "pigs might fly". "When Hell freezes over" and "on a cold day in Hell" are based on the understanding that Hell is eternally an extremely hot place. The "Twelfth of Never" will never come to pass.

US, informal. used to say that one thinks that something will never happen. The train station will be renovated when pigs fly.

A pig, a plump animal farmed for its meat, such as bacon. Depicted in light pink in full profile on all fours facing left, with a long snout and short, curly tail. May be used to represent the animal, its food products, or various metaphorical senses of pig.

Where did the phrase when hell freezes over come from? ›

This saying appears to have originated around the 1910s and first appeared in print in 1919. It was a favorite expression of both P.G. Wodehouse and F. Scott Fitzgerald - the latter often ended his letters with "Yours till hell freezes over".

In 1980, when the Eagles split after years of multi-million-selling success but increasingly fractious relations between the group members, Don Henley's answer to the question about when they would play together again was “when hell freeze over.” Fourteen years later, metaphorically speaking, it did.

"Fight 'em until hell freezes over. Then fight 'em on the ice!" -Dutch Meyer It's time to #BeatTheBuckeyes.

From a psychological perspective, the dream symbol of a flying pig represents a desire for transformation, inner growth, or a need to challenge prevailing beliefs. It may suggest that the dreamer is exploring unconventional ideas, questioning societal norms, or seeking unconventional solutions to problems.

But why the Flying Pig? According to the marathon's website, the name is inspired by Cincinnati's infamous Porkopolis nickname from the 1800s. During that time, agriculture was the city's primary industry, and hogs were a major source of income for farmers.

When Pigs Fly is the third (formerly the second) episode of Bad Piggies, and will be the player's prime introduction to air-based vehicles, and follows directly after the events of Ground Hog Day. It has 36 levels plus 9 Cave levels.

This is when I invoke my “Pigs get fed, hogs get slaughtered” analogy, and we take an in-depth look at our relationship with our customer. The idea behind the analogy is that there is nothing wrong with being satisfied or profitable, but if one is too greedy or too ambitious, it can lead to ruin.

Make a pig's ear' is a mid 20th century phrase and means 'completely botch something up; make a complete mess of it'. ... The expression derives from the old proverb 'you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear', which dates from the 16th century.

No one is certain exactly who developed the phrase “when pigs fly." An old reference to pigs flying appears in Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. However, scholars believe Carroll may have picked up the phrase from the Scottish, who allegedly had been using the phrase for a couple hundred years.