IdiomThe Absurd
French
FrenchQuand les poules auront des dents
Meaning: Never — it describes something that will simply never happen.
Literally: When hens have teeth
Example: “Lui, ranger sa chambre ? Quand les poules auront des dents !” — Him, clean his room? When pigs fly!
English equivalent: When pigs fly
Origin: Hens have no teeth, so the day they grow some will never come. The Académie française listed the phrase in its 1932 dictionary as meaning "when what cannot happen happens," but its first use is not documented, and the claim that it dates from the 18th century could not be confirmed. English uses flying pigs for the same impossibility.
Other ways to say this
Russian: Когда рак на горе свистнет (Kogda rak na gore svistnet) Literally: When a crayfish whistles on the mountain- Russian: После дождичка в четверг (Posle dozhdichka v chetverg) Literally: After the little rain on Thursday
Portuguese: Nem que a vaca tussa Literally: Not even if the cow coughs
English: at latter Lammas
Italian: alle calende greche Literally: On the Greek calends- English: when hell freezes over
- French: Aux calendes grecques Literally: At the Greek calends
- French: À la Saint-Glinglin Literally: On Saint Glinglin's day
- English: when pigs fly
More French idioms
- Il y a anguille sous roche Something suspicious is quietly going on beneath the surface.
- Ménager la chèvre et le chou To try to please both sides of a conflict without committing to either.
- Avoir la gueule de bois To be hungover.
- Filer à l'anglaise To leave discreetly without saying goodbye.
- Se mettre sur son trente-et-un To dress up in your very best clothes.
- Les doigts dans le nez To do something with the greatest of ease.
Explore another collection: Tongue Twisters
Tricky phrases to practice out loud, from languages around the world.
- Les chaussettes de l'archiduchesse sont-elles sèches, archi-sèches? A merciless duel between 'ch' and 's'.
- Si six scies scient six cyprès, six cents scies scient six cents cyprès. An 's' / 'si' minefield.
- Dans ta tente ta tante t'attend. A gentle 'ta / ten / tan / t'' warm-up that sounds faster than it reads.
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