pigs might fly
1
9.8
- idiom
- Informal
- He thinks he will win the lottery? That’s a classic case of pigs might fly.
Examples
-
She’ll pay you back? Pigs might fly.
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He says he'll clean his room without being told—pigs might fly!
-
They promise this will be finished tomorrow? Pigs might fly before that happens.
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I'll believe that when pigs might fly.
-
If he thinks he can win the lottery, he might as well believe that pigs might fly.
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She claimed she would complete the project in a week, but we all know pigs might fly.
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He expects to get a promotion without working hard, but pigs might fly before that happens.
Synonyms
38
4.3
Saying this shows something is very unlikely to happen
2
8.1
A way to say something is very unlikely to happen
1
7.5
Very unlikely to happen or almost impossible
An almost impossible chance of happening
People say this to show that something will not happen
To say you are very sure something will not happen and would do something silly if it did
Antonyms
How Likely
946
1.0
∞
1.0
∞
1.0
487
1.9
- Informal
1
9.8
∞
1.4
Surface Forms
Morphology
The expression's meaning (‘extremely unlikely’) is partly derivable from the constituents because, given world knowledge that pigs do not fly, a learner can infer improbability from 'pigs' + modal + 'fly'. However, the phrase is also a conventionalized idiom with a fixed pragmatic use (sarcastic dismissal) and modal nuance that may not be fully predictable to a B1 learner who has never seen it, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
The saying pigs might fly comes from a funny picture of pigs with wings that fly, a scene people know cannot happen. So people say pigs might fly to show they think something is 'very unlikely' or 'impossible'.