What does the saying when pigs fly mean?
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What does the saying when pigs fly mean?
Definition of when pigs fly —used to say that one thinks that something will never happen The train station will be renovated when pigs fly.
Will pigs ever be able to fly?
Easter revellers in Australia’s biggest city are discovering pigs really can fly. Led by a well-fed porker known as Miss Piggy, piglets that dive off a 13-foot platform have proved a hit with the crowds that pack the showground at the Royal Easter Show in Sydney, which runs through the weekend.
Who used to say when pigs fly?
Lewis Carroll also conjured one up in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 1865: “I’ve a right to think,” said Alice sharply… “Just about as much right,” said the Duchess, “as pigs have to fly.”
Can pigs fly with wings?
We’ve all heard or even used the old saying to describe something impossible, “If pigs had wings, they’d fly.” Now, thanks to genetic modification, pigs can fly. Kevin O’Farrell has successfully combined the DNA of a pig and an eagle to create a flying pig, or a “peagle,” as O’Farrell has dubbed the new critter.
Do pigs fly sayings?
The popular vernacular, saying something will happen “when pigs fly”, or “when pigs have wings” is traditionally used to mean that the specified event will never occur.
Why can pigs not fly?
You might think pigs don’t fly because they don’t have wings, or webs between their short stubby legs – like a flying squirrel (now, there’s a visual). The reason pigs don’t fly is because snorting and standing around in mucky-muck is what they do.
Does the idiom impossible?
To succeed at or overcome a task that is thought (sometimes hyperbolically) to be outside the realm of possibility. People can achieve the impossible if they work together. I felt like I had achieved the impossible when finally I received that promotion last week.
Do pigs cry?
FALSE! Pigs are quite sensitive. Pigs that are sad or grieving are known to cry real tears. This is why it’s important that pigs not be passed from home to home.
Why do we say “pigs can’t fly”?
The phrase is often used for humorous effect, to scoff at over-ambition. Pig’s can’t fly! It’s impossible, which is precisely what the expression means.We say it as a response when someone tells us something that we think is impossible or very unlikely.
What is the origin of the idiom if a pig has wings?
First attested in the United States in ‘Green Thicket World’ (1934) by H. Vines. The adage is found in varying forms: If a pig (pigs) had wings, one could fly; If that happens, then pigs can fly; When pigs fly, that’s when, etc. It may be reversed: Pigs could fly if they had wings. As a rejoinder to the suggestion that something impossible may happ
American literature author John Steinbeck was told by his professor that he would be an author when pigs flew.
What is an example of pig in the eagle has landed?
An example occurs in the film The Eagle Has Landed: an Irish secret agent working for the Nazis replies to a German general speaking of Germany’s shortly winning World War II, “Pigs may fly, General, but I doubt it!” Later, when the Irishman sees German soldiers parachuting before an attack, he says to himself, “Mother of God! Flying pigs!”.