May 35th
- noun
- Informal
:
treinta y cinco de mayo
- The project will be finished by May 35th, so in other words, never.
Examples
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He promised to pay me back on May 35th, which obviously isn't a real date.
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If you plan to start exercising on May 35th, it means you don’t plan to start at all.
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Don't worry, we'll finish this by May 35th!
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I can't believe you think that will happen by May 35th.
-
He promised to pay me back on May 35th, which obviously isn't a real date.
-
If you plan to start exercising on May 35th, it means you don’t plan to start at all.
-
The project will be finished by May 35th, so in other words, never.
Synonyms
A date that will never come used as a joke to delay something
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is compositionally built from 'May' (a month) plus '35th' (an impossible day), so a learner who knows both words can infer it denotes a nonexistent date and thus a humorous way to say something will never happen. This pragmatic inference (impossible date → 'never' / 'won't come') is straightforward and cross-linguistically common, making it immediately understandable to B1 learners.
Etymology
May 35th is a joking way to name a date that does not exist. There is no 35th day of May, so saying May 35th means 'never' or a deadline that will never come.
