when pigs fly
when pigs fly adverb: never.
Adverb
when pigs fly
- Never.
- "You know, my friend," said Mongan, "that I can't get Duv Laca back unless the King of Leinster asks me to take her back, for a bargain is a bargain."
"That will happen when pigs fly," said mac an Dáv, "and," said he, "I did not make any bargain with any king that is in the world."1920, James Stephens, Irish Fairy Tales, Mongan's Frenzy
- Synonyms:
- at latter Lammas, at no time, in the reign of Queen Dick, ne'er, never, never ever, not while pussy's a cat, on the second Tuesday of the week, sine die, when Hell freezes over
- "You know, my friend," said Mongan, "that I can't get Duv Laca back unless the King of Leinster asks me to take her back, for a bargain is a bargain."
when pigs fly meaning in Tagalog, Malay and Indonesian
when pigs fly in Tagalog
- never, expressed by an idiom
- sa pagputi ng uwak, sa pag-itim ng tagak
when pigs fly in Malay
- never, expressed by an idiom
- menunggu kucing bertanduk
when pigs fly in Indonesian
- never, expressed by an idiom
- sampai lebaran monyet, sampai lebaran kuda, menunggu ayam bayar pajak
Synonyms of when pigs fly
- at latter Lammas
- at no time
- in the reign of Queen Dick
- ne'er
- never
- never ever
- not while pussy's a cat
- on the second Tuesday of the week
- sine die
- when Hell freezes over
2 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of when pigs fly
| alternative form | when pigs can fly |
|---|
Origin of when pigs fly
Referencing the fact that pigs do not have wings and cannot fly.
Words that rhyme with when pigs fly
Questions about when pigs fly
- What does when pigs fly mean?
- When pigs fly means never.
- What is when pigs fly in Tagalog?
- When pigs fly in Tagalog is sa pagputi ng uwak, sa pag-itim ng tagak. See When pigs fly meaning in Tagalog.
- What part of speech is when pigs fly?
- When pigs fly is an adverb.
Words near when pigs fly in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: when pigs fly (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-when pigs fly.ogg.
Cite this entry: “when pigs fly.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/when_pigs_fly. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.