a cold day in July

English

Etymology

From July being on average the hottest month in the Northern Hemisphere.

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

a cold day in July (plural not attested)

1. (idiomatic, colloquial) The time of occurrence of an event that will never happen.

   It'll be a cold day in July when that happens.

Synonyms

• a cold day in Hell
• when Hell freezes over
• when pigs fly

Translations

an event that will never happen

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 绝不可能, 绝无可能

• French: à la Saint-Glinglin (fr), quand les poules auront des dents (fr), semaine des quatre jeudis (fr) f
• German: wenn Ostern und Weihnachten auf einen Tag fallen (de), wenn Ostern und Pfingsten auf einen Tag fallen (de), am Sankt Nimmerleinstag
• Italian: alle calende greche, quando gli asini voleranno, mai (it)
• Portuguese: dia de São Nunca m
• Turkish: çıkmaz ayın son çarşambası (tr), iki cihan bir araya gelince, balık kavağa çıkınca (tr)

See also

• don't hold your breath