russian idiom

[loxian.livejournal.com]

Hi there,

I am looking for the Russian equivalent of such phrases as 'he has a snowball's chance in hell', or 'when pigs fly', or 'when hell freezes over' - ie an idiomatic way of expressing 'it's impossible'.

Do you know of any such phrases?

Thanking you in advance.

Comments

[oryx_and_crake]

when pigs fly is Когда рак на горе свистнет (literally "when a crayfish whistles on top of a hill")

[loxian.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[hamstir.livejournal.com]

"when hell freezes over" also is Когда рак на горе свистнет

[loxian.livejournal.com]

Thank you - so that's the phrase that people generally use to express any kind of 'that's impossible' meaning?

[khathi.livejournal.com]

"После дождичка в четверг" or "In Thursday after the rain".

[loxian.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

(But I don't get why it should have come to mean 'impossible'... does it always rain on Thursdays?)

[khathi.livejournal.com]

Also, "snowball's chances in Hell" of someone doing something can be rendered as "вот только шнурки погладит" ("just after he ironed his shoelaces").

[la-dy-ashley.livejournal.com]

The crayfish one is the most typical.

There's also Когда медведь (в лесу) сдохнет, when the bear dies (in the woods).

[khathi.livejournal.com]

Right now it's usually the other way round -- the people usually respond on an unlikely event by saying that a bear has died in the forest, or even asking whether anyone has died at all.

[loxian.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[romik-g.livejournal.com]

Скорее красный снег пойдёт, чем ...

[loxian.livejournal.com]

Red snow will come before [whatever unlikely thing happens]?

Thank you!

[odreamer.livejournal.com]

Never heard that one.

[misino.livejournal.com]

All these above are right, but they all sound a little archaic.
Modern people in big cities hardly ever use any of these in speech.

[trankov.livejournal.com]

crayfish is in active use
absolutely

[arashi-opera.livejournal.com]

Also, I heard the "when hell freezes over" thing - "Когда ад замёрзнет."

[loxian.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[phoonzang.livejournal.com]

'he has a snowball's chance in hell' - if I understand that one correctly, it might be 'ему ничего не светит', 'ему тут нечего ловить', but that goes rather in the direction 'he's got no chances here'

a bit different meaning from 'когда рак на горе свистнет' though

[loxian.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

Yes, sorry, the original examples I gave weren't exactly analogous...

[riegel.livejournal.com]

"когда жареный петух клюнет"

[loxian.livejournal.com]

= when roasted birds cluck?

Thank you!

[evermore-spb.livejournal.com]

when hell freezes over - скорее ад замёрзнет, (чем...)
when pigs fly - когда свиньи полетят
- quite literally, is used here too.

Not in my day,

[nic102.livejournal.com]

it wasn't. These are direct translations from English.

Too many people speak English in Russia now :)

[liza-now.livejournal.com]

"до морковкина заговенья"

[p2nches.livejournal.com]

It has a different meaning ('for a long time').
I would translate this as 'till the cows come home'.

[crocotiger.livejournal.com]

Generally Russians dislike the idea of impossibility. There are many quite opposite idioms such as "Голь на выдумки хитра", "Бог не выдаст, свинья не съест", "Где наша не пропадала", "Невозможно только по потолку ходить" (the last one edited by me because originally it was rude).

[p2nches.livejournal.com]

I think that 'У него нет ни единого/малейшего шанса' (He stands no chance.) would be a good rendition of 'He has a snowball's chance in hell'. As for 'when pigs fly', you can say 'после дождичка в четверг' or 'когда рак на горе свистнет', but these are very colloquial. It is widely used but a foreigner would sound silly. Thus, I would advise one to say 'никогда' (never). There are many other possible ways to get this idea across but all of them have their own peculiarities (черта с два/фиг/хрен/как бы не так and so on).