flying pigs
Proverbial impossible sight
Flying pigs represent something impossible or absurd, appearing almost exclusively in the phrase when pigs fly—meaning never.
The expression dismisses unlikely claims or promises: Sure, I'll clean my room—when pigs fly.
A variant, pigs might fly, serves the same purpose with British inflection.
The image occasionally appears literally in art or advertising for whimsical effect.
- impossibleIncapable of occurring
- fantasyImaginative mental wandering
- absurdWildly illogical
- wishful thinkingBelief shaped by desire
- oinkPig vocalization
wings · soaring · farm animal · bacon · myth · whimsical · snout · fairytale · fairy tale creature · nursery rhyme · dream · miracle · hovering · pink · curly · hogwash · tall tale · fable
- whimsywhimsy, whim, fairies, caprice, unicorns
- impossibilitiessquare circle, squared circle, perpetual motion, dividing by zero, logical paradox
- futilityfutile, futility, in vain, pointlessness, vain
flying pigscertainty
Total absence of doubt
sure thing · foregone conclusion · inevitability · done deal · safe bet
flying pigsthe usual
business as usual · same old same old · routine · nothing special · par for the course