cold day in Hell

English

Alternative forms

• cold day in hell

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

cold day in Hell (plural cold days in Hell)

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

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

Related terms

• snowball's chance in hell
• when Hell freezes over

 

Translations

an event that will never happen

• Basque: haizerik ez den urtean (literally “in the year without wind”)
• Belarusian: калі рак свісне (kali rak svisnje)
• Bulgarian: кога́то цъ́фнат налъ́мите (kogáto cǎ́fnat nalǎ́mite, literally “when pattens blossom”)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 绝不可能, 绝无可能

• Danish: en kold dag i helvede
• Dutch: met Sint Juttemis; als Pasen en Pinksteren op één dag vallen
• Esperanto: triĵaŭda semajno (literally “week with three Thursdays”)
• Finnish: kun helvetti jäätyy (literally “when Hell freezes over”)
• French: quand les poules auront des dents (fr) (literally “when hens have teeth”), semaine des quatre jeudis (fr) (literally “week with four Thursdays”), à la Saint-Glinglin (fr), aux calendes grecques
• German: nie im Leben (literally “never in a lifetime”)
• Greek: όταν ασπρίσει ο κόρακας και γίνει περιστέρι (ótan asprísei o kórakas kai gínei peristéri)
• Hungarian: majd ha piros hó esik (literally “when red snowflakes are snowing”), majd ha cigánygyerekek potyognak az égből (literally “when gypsy children are streaming from the sky”), majd ha a pokol befagy (literally “when Hell freezes over”)
• Italian: alle calende greche (literally “on the Greek Calends”), quando gli asini voleranno (literally “when donkeys fly”)
• Persian: وقت گل نی
• Polish: jak rak świśnie a ryba piśnie (pl)
• Russian: когда́ рак на горе́ сви́стнет (ru) (kogdá rak na goré svístnet, literally “when a crayfish whistles on the mountain”), по́сле до́ждичка в четве́рг (ru) (pósle dóždička v četvérg, literally “after a small rain on Thursday”)
• Spanish: cuando las ranas críen pelo (es), cuando meen las gallinas
• Turkish: kırmızı kar yağınca (literally “when it snows red”), çıkmaz ayın son çarşambası (tr) (literally “the last Wednesday of the non-ending month”)
• Welsh: dydd Sul y pys (literally “pea Sunday”)
• Zazaki: Vora sur bıvaro, heta ga bızi yo

See also

• first of never
• never in a month of Sundays
• that'll be the frosty Friday
• when pigs fly