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Когда рак на горе свистнет (Kogda rak na gore svistnet)

Meaning: When pigs fly; never.

Language: Russian

Literally: When a crayfish whistles on the mountain

Category: Animals

Origin: Russian expression for an impossible event.

More idioms — Animals

  • Медвежья услуга (Medvezhya usluga) — Help that actually makes things worse.
  • Тянуть кота за хвост (Tyanut' kota za khvost) — To procrastinate; to drag something out.
  • Делать из мухи слона (Delat' iz mukhi slona) — To blow things way out of proportion.
  • 对牛弹琴 (duì niú tán qín) — Reasoning with someone who cannot understand.
  • 画蛇添足 (huà shé tiān zú) — To ruin something by adding unnecessary extras.
  • 鸡同鸭讲 (jī tóng yā jiǎng) — Complete miscommunication; talking past each other.

More Russian idioms

  • душа нараспашку (dusha naraspashku) — Extremely open, trusting, or emotionally vulnerable with others.
  • работать спустя рукава (rabotat' spustya rukava) — To work carelessly, half-heartedly, without proper effort or attention.
  • заморить червячка (zamorit' chervyachka) — To have a light snack or small meal to satisfy hunger temporarily.
  • медведь на ухо наступил (medved' na ukho nastupil) — To lack musical ability or have poor sense of pitch and rhythm.
  • пускать пыль в глаза (puskat' pyl' v glaza) — To deceive or mislead someone, creating false impressions through trickery.
  • Ни пуха ни пера (Ni pukha ni pera) — Good luck — to which the ritual reply is 'To the devil!'.

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