List of idioms of improbability

In English

In other languages

• Afrikaans – as die perde horings kry
• Albanian – ne 36 gusht
• Arabic has a wide range of idioms differing from a region to another. In some Arab countries of the Persian Gulf, one would say إذا حجت البقرة على قرونها idha ḥajjit il-bagara `ala gurunha. In Egypt, one says في المشمش fil-mishmish. Other Arab people, mainly Palestinian, use the expression لما ينور الملح lemma ynawwar il-malḥ, which roughly translates into "when salt glows", which means "never" because salt is not a glowing material.
• Chinese – 太陽從西邊升起
• Czech – až naprší a uschne meaning "When it rains and dries". Another expression is až opadá listí z dubu
• Dutch – met , or als Pinksteren en Pasen op één dag vallen
• Esperanto – je la tago de Sankta Neniam — a loan-translation from German.
• Finnish – sitten kun lehmät lentävät - when the cows fly. Also jos lehmällä olisi siivet, se lentäisi, implying futile speculations. Also kun lipputanko kukkii and Tuohikuussa Pukin-päivän aikaan. Sometimes also kun Helvetti jäätyy, although saying it aloud to someone is considered very rude and hostile.
• French – à la Saint-Glinglin. Glinglin is a nonsense rhyme for the French word saint. A couple of other expressions are quand les poules auront des dents and quand les coqs pondront des œufs. An expression, today falling into disuse, is la semaine des quatre jeudis, as in "that will happen during the week of the four Thursdays". The expression aux calendes grecques was also used for indefinite postponement, derived from the ancient Latin expression.
• 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 is in more common use, often modified on the second part to something impossible, like "if pigs had wings, even your idea might work". Another phrase is Am Sankt-Nimmerleins-Tag.
  Wenn Weihnachten und Ostern auf einen Tag fallen!
• Georgian– როცა ვირი ხეზე ავა
• Greek – Του Αγίου Ποτέ is sometimes used, however the profane Του Αγίου Πούτσου ανήμερα is more popular. A common expression used to point out someone's wishful thinking is Αν η γιαγιά μου είχε καρούλια, θα ήταν πατίνι.
• Hebrew – כשיצמחו שיערות על כף ידי. Another is a legal term, referring to the indefinite postponing of a case, "until Elijah comes".
• Hindi - The common phrases are सूरज पश्चिम से उगा है and बिन मौसम की बरसात. The second one is also used to denote something unexpected/untimely as much as improbable.
• Hungarian – The two most often used expressions are majd ha piros hó esik, and majd ha cigánygyerekek potyognak az égből. There is a third one: majd ha fagy, the short version of majd ha a pokol befagy, which is not used much anymore. A couple of other expressions are holnapután kiskedden and soha napján.
• Italian – Common idioms are quando gli asini voleranno, il 31 febbraio, il giorno di "mai" ed il mese di "poi" and, similarly to Latin, alle Calende greche. To imply futile speculations, a common expression is se mia nonna avesse le ruote, sarebbe una carriola.
• Latin – ad kalendas graecas signified indefinite postponement, since the Greek calendar had no Calends period; also cum mula peperit = "when a mule foaled".
• Japanese - 網の目に風とまらず Literally meaning "You can't catch wind in a net." Another idiom of improbability is 畑に蛤 which means "finding clams in a field".
• Limburgish – Te Pruimpaschen, als de kalveren op 't ijs dansen, 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, Sint-juttemis day is an actual day and this makes saying just "on Saint-juttemis day" when one means "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.
• Lombard – quand pìssen i òch, refers to the popular belief that a goose never urinates
• Malay – menunggu kucing bertanduk
• Malayalam – കാക്ക മലർന്നു പറക്കും, " crow will fly upside down"
• Marathi – आत्याबाईं ना मिश्या असत्या तर काका म्हंटले असते, "if aunt grows moustaches she would be called uncle"
• Persian – وقت گل نی, "when the reed plant blossoms"
• Piedmontese – An unlikely event will occur in the smana dij tre giòbia.
• Polish – na święty Nigdy ; zobaczysz... jak świnia niebo ; prędzej mi kaktus na dłoni wyrośnie ; Jedzie mi tu pociąg?.
• Portuguese – no dia de São Nunca, nem que a vaca tussa, quando os porcos voarem and quando as galinhas tiverem dentes. In Brazilian Portuguese, especially in the historical context of WWII, quando cobra fumar, which has since reversed meaning, given the participation of Brazil in the war.
• Romanian – la paștele cailor/la Ispas, când o face plopul pere și răchita micșunele, la sfântul așteaptă, and când va zbura porcul
• Russian – когда рак на горе свистнет, "when the crawfish whistles on the mountain". После дождичка в четверг, literally "after the rain on Thursday" yet meaning never.
• Serbian – кад на врби роди грожђе, "when willow bears grapes". Another variant is кад на врби засврби, "when willow get itchy". Note rhyme in vrbi zasvrbi. Мало сутра, literally "a little bit tomorrow", has a similar meaning as "all my eye".
• Seychellois Creole, also known as Kreol or Seselwa – lannen de mil zanmen is used, which means "year two thousand and never". It is a fairly new expression used mainly among the youth.
• Slovene – Ob svetem Nikoli is a wordplay that literally means "on St. Nicholas' feast day". The word nikoli, when stressed on the second syllable, means "never", when stressed on the first it is the locative case of Nikola, i.e. Nicholas
• Spanish – cuando las vacas vuelen or cuando los chanchos vuelen. 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 and cuando San Juan agache el dedo. The latter is a reference to the common depiction of St. John with one or two extended fingers.
• Tagalog – kapag namuti ang uwak, kapag nangitim ang tagak. Note the euphony between the nouns uwak and tagak.
• Turkish – balık kavağa çıktığında. Another one is çıkmaz ayın son Çarşambasında
• Ukrainian – коли рак на горі свисне, "when the crawfish whistles on the mountain"; or a longer variant коли рак на горі свисне, а риба заспіває, "when the crawfish whistles on the mountain and fish sings". Another expression is не бачити тобі... як своїх вух.

  Works cited