Home › Idioms

Когда рак на горе свистнет

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 — Help that actually makes things worse.
  • Тянуть кота за хвост — To procrastinate; to drag something out.
  • Делать из мухи слона — To blow things way out of proportion.
  • 对牛弹琴 — Reasoning with someone who cannot understand.
  • 画蛇添足 — To ruin something by adding unnecessary extras.
  • 鸡同鸭讲 — Complete miscommunication; talking past each other.

More Russian idioms

  • душа нараспашку — Extremely open, trusting, or emotionally vulnerable with others.
  • работать спустя рукава — To work carelessly, half-heartedly, without proper effort or attention.
  • заморить червячка — To have a light snack or small meal to satisfy hunger temporarily.
  • медведь на ухо наступил — To lack musical ability or have poor sense of pitch and rhythm.
  • пускать пыль в глаза — To deceive or mislead someone, creating false impressions through trickery.
  • Ни пуха ни пера — Good luck — to which the ritual reply is 'To the devil!'.

← Back to Idioms

Loading the full interactive collection…