{"id":31330,"date":"2019-05-09T22:13:25","date_gmt":"2019-05-09T20:13:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=31330"},"modified":"2019-05-10T22:52:26","modified_gmt":"2019-05-10T20:52:26","slug":"when-pigs-fly-and-chicken-have-teeth-impossible-french-expressions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/when-pigs-fly-and-chicken-have-teeth-impossible-french-expressions\/","title":{"rendered":"When Pigs Fly And Chicken Have Teeth – Impossible French Expressions"},"content":{"rendered":"

When facing the impossible it can be useful to have something fun to say to help make a joke of the situation. Whether it’s au second degr\u00e9<\/strong><\/a> (sarcastic) or an honestly difficult task doesn’t matter as much as far as the language is concerned.<\/p>\n

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Image<\/a> from Pixabay. Licensed under CC0.<\/p><\/div>\n

Growing up I often heard a fun expression to diffuse anything that was completely out of the question:<\/p>\n

When pigs fly<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s a fun way to deny something and it’s so visual I internalized it as a saying that everyone could understand. As often happens when entering another culture and language, that ended up in a very funny situation down the line with mes amis fran\u00e7ais<\/strong><\/a> (my French friends):<\/p>\n

Tu sais, je vais \u00eatre un milliardaire<\/a> un jour.<\/strong>
\nAh oui ?<\/strong>
\nC’est vrai !<\/strong>
\nOui, quand les cochons voleront.<\/strong>
\nQuand les cochons voleront ? T’es fou ?<\/strong>
\nTu as pas cette expression en fran\u00e7ais ?<\/strong>
\nApparemment ! Qu’est-ce que tu veux dire ?<\/strong>
\nC’est une expression qui veut dire une chose qui n’arrivera jamais.<\/strong>
\nAaah, tu veux dire “quand les poules auront des dents” ?<\/strong>
\nPeut-\u00eatre ? \u00c7a veut dire que tu ne seras jamais un milliardaire ?<\/strong>
\nOui ! Hahaha !<\/strong><\/p>\n

You know, I’m going to be a billionaire one day.<\/em>
\nAh really?<\/em>
\nIt’s true!<\/em>
\nYeah, when pigs fly.<\/em>
\nWhen pigs fly? Are you crazy?<\/em>
\nYou don’t have that expression in French?<\/em>
\nApparently! What do you want to say?<\/em>
\nIt’s an expression that means something that will never happen.<\/em>
\nAaah, you mean “when chickens<\/a> have teeth”?<\/em>
\nMaybe? That means you will never be a billionaire?<\/em>
\nYes! Hahaha!<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It was a fun lesson<\/a>, but it makes perfect sense when thinking about the similar idea of something crazy and impossible. To add to la faute<\/strong><\/a> (the mistake), I actually grew up on a farm and ma soeur<\/strong><\/a> (my sister) would shout something very similar when playing with les poules<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

Chickens don’t have lips!<\/em>
\nLes poules n’ont pas de levres !<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It never had the same meaning as When pigs fly<\/em> for me or ma famille<\/strong><\/a> (my family), but it firmly planted the idea of the absurdity that is at the heart of l’expression<\/strong>. Both l’expression fran\u00e7aise et anglaise<\/strong> (the French and English expression) work because they are referencing a situation that can never be true!<\/p>\n

Interestingly, in the 19th century there was a similar expression fran\u00e7aise<\/strong><\/a> that seems to have been lost to time, most likely due to its more crude reference:<\/p>\n

Quand les poules pisseront<\/strong>
\nWhen chickens piss<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A more recent example of the modern expression fran\u00e7aise<\/strong> comes from the famous author<\/a>, Raymond Queneau<\/em> He used the expression and seemingly made it more popular for modern France with a pretty well know excerpt from son roman<\/strong> (his novel), Le Dimanche<\/a> de la vie<\/strong> (the Sunday of the life)<\/em>:<\/p>\n

Quand te marieras-tu, toi ?<\/strong>
\nQuand les poules auront des dents.<\/strong>
\nY en a qui en ont.<\/strong><\/p>\n

When are you getting married?<\/em>
\nWhen pigs fly (literally: when chicken have teeth).<\/em>
\nSome have them.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The last part is an added bit more absurdity to l’expression<\/strong><\/a>. It really has been proven that des poules ont des dents<\/strong> (some chickens have teeth).<\/p>\n

Personally, I find it as a fun connection to another French saying, impossible n’est pas fran\u00e7ais <\/strong>(impossible isn’t French)!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

When facing the impossible it can be useful to have something fun to say to help make a joke of the situation. Whether it’s au second degr\u00e9 (sarcastic) or an honestly difficult task doesn’t matter as much as far as the language is concerned. Growing up I often heard a fun expression to diffuse anything…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":124,"featured_media":31331,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[3,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31330","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-culture","category-vocabulary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t