What do you say when faced with something so unlikely, so improbable, that you simply cannot imagine it ever happening? Perhaps you’ll admit your neighbor was right about who owns the shovel you’ve both used—when pigs fly. Or maybe your boss will give you that raise when hell freezes over. But would you ever say that Elvis will perform again when hair grows on the palm of your hand? In Israel you might. All over the world, there is a wide range of idioms of improbability. Click on the map below to see a few of the more colorful ways of saying “just about never.”
Persian Gulf
ذا حجت البقرة على قرونها — “When the cow goes on pilgrimage on its horns”
Egypt
في المشمش — “When the apricots bloom”
Finland
Sitten kun lehmät lentävät — “When the cows fly”
France
Quand les poules auront des dents — “When chicken have teeth”
Spain
Cuando meen las gallinas — “When the hens piss”
Latvia
Kad pūcei aste ziedēs — “When the owl’s tail blossoms”
Israel
כשיצמחו שערות על כף ידי — “When hair grows on the palm of my hand”
Hungary
Majd ha piros hó esik — “When it’s snowing red snowflakes”
Portugal
No dia de São Nunca à tarde — “In the afternoon of Saint Never’s day”
Poland
Kiedy mi kaktus na ręku wyrośnie — “When the cactus will grow on my hand”
Turkey
Balık ağaca/kavağa çıkınca — “When fish climb trees/poplar trees”
Spain / Spanish
Cuando las ranas críen pelo — “When frogs grow hair”
Persian
وقتگلنی (vaght e gol e ney) — “When the reed plant blossoms”
Chinese
除非太陽從西邊出來 [除非太阳从西边出来] (chúfēi tàiyáng cóng xībiān chūlái) — “Unless the sun would rise from the west”
Russia
когда рак на горе свистнет (kogdá rak na goré svístnet) — “When the crawfish whistles on the mountain”.
Serbia
Kad na vrbi rodi groždje — “When grapes grow on a willow”
Sources:
http://www.wordsense.eu/when_pigs_fly/
http://www.italki.com/question/112331
http://en.glosbe.com/fi/en/kun lehmät lentävät
http://french.about.com/od/vocabulary/a/quandlespoulesaurontdesdents.htm
http://archive.org/stream/adictionaryspan00collgoog/adictionaryspan00collgoog_djvu.txt
http://www.seadict.com/he/he/כשיצמחו שערות על כף-ידו
http://en.glosbe.com/hu/en/ha piros hó esik
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1716329
http://www.omniglot.com/language/idioms/flyingpigs.php
http://www.anlam.net/nedir/deyimler_sozlugu/balik_kavaga_cikinca
http://dictionary.reverso.net/spanish-english/cuando las ranas críen pelos
http://www.wordsense.eu/when_pigs_fly/
http://www.gramma.ru/RUS/?id=14.48
http://www.wordsense.eu/kad_na_vrbi_rodi_grožđe/
