Flying pig
Encyclopedia
The phrase "when will pigs fly" is an adynaton
—a figure of speech
so hyperbolic
that it describes an impossibility. The implication of such a phrase is that the circumstances in question (the adynaton, and the circumstances to which the adynaton are being applied) will never occur.
Because of the historical importance of the pig industry to the city, prominent in the local iconography of Cincinnati are such events as the Big Pig Gig
and the Flying Pig Marathon
.
claim to see a flying pig. ("Hey look! A flying pig!") Other variations on the phrase include "And pigs will fly", this one in retort to an outlandish statement.
An example occurs in the film The Eagle Has Landed
: an Irish secret agent
working for the Nazis replies to a German general speaking of Germany
's shortly winning World War II
, "Pigs may fly, general, but I doubt it!" Later, when the Irishman sees German soldiers parachuting before an attack, he says to himself, "Mother of God! Flying pigs!"
An identical phrase, used to express impossibilities, exists in Romanian
, Când o zbura porcul, literally meaning "When the pig shall fly". Similar phrases in English include "when hell freezes over", the Latin expression "to the Greek calends," and "and monkeys might fly out of my butt", popularized in Wayne's World
skits and movies. They are examples of adynata. In Finnish
, the expression "kun lehmät lentävät" (when cows fly) is used because of its alliteration
.
In Polish
, a similar expression is "See a tank rolling in here?", while simultaneously lowering a lower eyelid with a finger. Sometimes, when in return to this a slightly more limited, but still improbable answer is given, the speaker repeats the gesture, stating: "Maybe at least a gun barrel
sticks out?":
The idiom is apparently derived from a centuries-old Scottish proverb, though some other references to pigs flying or pigs with wings are more famous. At least one appears in the works of Lewis Carroll
:
American literature
author John Steinbeck
was told by his professor that he would be an author when pigs flew. When he eventually became a novelist, he started to print every book he wrote with the insignia "Ad astra
per alia porci" (to the stars on the wings of a pig).
Adynaton
Adynaton is a figure of speech in the form of hyperbole taken to such extreme lengths as to suggest a complete impossibility:...
—a figure of speech
Figure of speech
A figure of speech is the use of a word or words diverging from its usual meaning. It can also be a special repetition, arrangement or omission of words with literal meaning, or a phrase with a specialized meaning not based on the literal meaning of the words in it, as in idiom, metaphor, simile,...
so hyperbolic
Hyperbole
Hyperbole is the use of exaggeration as a rhetorical device or figure of speech. It may be used to evoke strong feelings or to create a strong impression, but is not meant to be taken literally....
that it describes an impossibility. The implication of such a phrase is that the circumstances in question (the adynaton, and the circumstances to which the adynaton are being applied) will never occur.
Because of the historical importance of the pig industry to the city, prominent in the local iconography of Cincinnati are such events as the Big Pig Gig
Big Pig Gig
The Big Pig Gig was a public art exhibit displayed in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, from May 14 to October 31, 2000. In the large-scale event, local artists and schools decorated fiberglass pig statues and installed them throughout the downtown area....
and the Flying Pig Marathon
Flying Pig Marathon
The Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon is a race run the 1st Sunday of every May in Cincinnati, Ohio. It is the 3rd largest first-time marathon in the United States, and had nearly 5000 finishers in 2008. An official time from the Flying Pig Marathon can be used to qualify for the Boston Marathon...
.
Meaning
"When pigs fly" is an adynaton, a way of saying that something will never happen. The phrase is often used for humorous effect, to scoff at over-ambition. There are numerous variations on the theme; when an individual with a reputation for failure finally succeeds, onlookers may sarcasticallySarcasm
Sarcasm is “a sharp, bitter, or cutting expression or remark; a bitter jibe or taunt.” Though irony and understatement is usually the immediate context, most authorities distinguish sarcasm from irony; however, others argue that sarcasm may or often does involve irony or employs...
claim to see a flying pig. ("Hey look! A flying pig!") Other variations on the phrase include "And pigs will fly", this one in retort to an outlandish statement.
An example occurs in the film The Eagle Has Landed
The Eagle Has Landed (film)
The Eagle Has Landed is a 1976 film version of the novel The Eagle Has Landed by Jack Higgins. It was directed by John Sturges and starred Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland and Robert Duvall...
: an Irish secret agent
Secret Agent
Secret Agent is a British film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, loosely based on two stories in Ashenden: Or the British Agent by W. Somerset Maugham. The film starred John Gielgud, Peter Lorre, Madeleine Carroll, and Robert Young...
working for the Nazis replies to a German general speaking of Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
's shortly winning World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, "Pigs may fly, general, but I doubt it!" Later, when the Irishman sees German soldiers parachuting before an attack, he says to himself, "Mother of God! Flying pigs!"
An identical phrase, used to express impossibilities, exists in Romanian
Romanian language
Romanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
, Când o zbura porcul, literally meaning "When the pig shall fly". Similar phrases in English include "when hell freezes over", the Latin expression "to the Greek calends," and "and monkeys might fly out of my butt", popularized in Wayne's World
Wayne's World
Wayne's World was originally a recurring sketch from the NBC television series Saturday Night Live. It evolved from a segment titled "Wayne's Power Minute" on the CBC Television series It's Only Rock & Roll, as the main character first appeared in that show...
skits and movies. They are examples of adynata. In Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
, the expression "kun lehmät lentävät" (when cows fly) is used because of its alliteration
Alliteration
In language, alliteration refers to the repetition of a particular sound in the first syllables of Three or more words or phrases. Alliteration has historically developed largely through poetry, in which it more narrowly refers to the repetition of a consonant in any syllables that, according to...
.
In Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
, a similar expression is "See a tank rolling in here?", while simultaneously lowering a lower eyelid with a finger. Sometimes, when in return to this a slightly more limited, but still improbable answer is given, the speaker repeats the gesture, stating: "Maybe at least a gun barrel
Gun barrel
A gun barrel is the tube, usually metal, through which a controlled explosion or rapid expansion of gases are released in order to propel a projectile out of the end at a high velocity....
sticks out?":
- "I'm sure that the cows will make a permanent colony on the Moon by the end of 2012."
- "Yeah, sure. See a tank rolling in here?" (lowering the eyelid)
- "Well, maybe not 2012, but 2013, surely."
- "Maybe at least a gun barrel sticks out?" (repeating the gesture.)
The idiom is apparently derived from a centuries-old Scottish proverb, though some other references to pigs flying or pigs with wings are more famous. At least one appears in the works of Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...
:
"Thinking again?" the Duchess asked, with another dig of her sharp little chin.
"I've a right to think," said Alice sharply, for she was beginning to feel a little worried.
"Just about as much right," said the Duchess, "as pigs have to fly...." — Alice's Adventures in WonderlandAlice's Adventures in WonderlandAlice's Adventures in Wonderland is an 1865 novel written by English author Charles Lutwidge Dodgson under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. It tells of a girl named Alice who falls down a rabbit hole into a fantasy world populated by peculiar, anthropomorphic creatures...
, Chapter 9.
American literature
American literature
American literature is the written or literary work produced in the area of the United States and its preceding colonies. For more specific discussions of poetry and theater, see Poetry of the United States and Theater in the United States. During its early history, America was a series of British...
author John Steinbeck
John Steinbeck
John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. was an American writer. He is widely known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden and the novella Of Mice and Men...
was told by his professor that he would be an author when pigs flew. When he eventually became a novelist, he started to print every book he wrote with the insignia "Ad astra
Ad astra (phrase)
Ad astra is a Latin phrase meaning "to the stars". The phrase has origins with Virgil, who wrote sic itur ad astra and opta ardua pennis astra sequi, Ad astra is a Latin phrase meaning "to the stars". The phrase has origins with Virgil, who wrote sic itur ad astra ("thus you shall go to the...
per alia porci" (to the stars on the wings of a pig).
In popular culture
- In the 1968 movie The Lion in WinterThe Lion in Winter (1968 film)The Lion in Winter is a 1968 historical drama made by Avco Embassy Pictures, based on the Broadway play by James Goldman. It was directed by Anthony Harvey and produced by Joseph E...
, King Henry II tells his wife Eleanor of Aquitane "When pigs have wings!". She replies "There'll be pork in the trees come morning!" - Pink FloydPink FloydPink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
had a flying pig on the cover of the Animals album, and since then has used a flying pig as a prop for concerts. See Pink Floyd pigsPink Floyd pigsInflatable Pink Floyd flying pigs were one of the staple props of their live shows. The first was a sow, but a very obviously male pig appeared in the 1980s...
. - A 1996 musical When Pigs FlyWhen Pigs Fly (musical)When Pigs FlyA musical revue in 2 acts. Conceived by Howard Crabtree and Mark Waldrop. Sketches and Lyrics by Mark Waldrop. Music by Dick Gallagher.- External links :**...
. - In The SimpsonsThe SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
episode, "Lisa the VegetarianLisa the Vegetarian"Lisa the Vegetarian" is the fifth episode of The Simpsons seventh season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 15, 1995. In the episode, Lisa decides to stop eating meat after bonding with a lamb at a petting zoo...
", Lisa pushes Homer's prize pig down a hill into a river, where it ends up getting shot through the air by a dam's spillway suction. In his office Mr Burns says to Smithers he would like to do something charitable with his wealth. When Smithers questions this, he answers "when pigs fly". The pig then passes his window in flight, at which point he admits he would still like to keep his money. - As a reference to the phrase, in the game Viva PiñataViva PiñataViva Piñata is a life simulation game developed by Rare, for the Xbox 360 video game console. The project was headed by Gregg Mayles and the team behind the Banjo-Kazooie series, based on an idea from Tim Stamper. Although rumors of the title circulated among fans for some time, Viva Piñata was...
, you can obtain a Pigxie, a pig-like piñata with wings, by crossbreeding a Rashberry (piñata based on a pigPigA pig is any of the animals in the genus Sus, within the Suidae family of even-toed ungulates. Pigs include the domestic pig, its ancestor the wild boar, and several other wild relatives...
) with a Swanana (piñata based on a swanSwanSwans, genus Cygnus, are birds of the family Anatidae, which also includes geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometimes, they are considered a distinct subfamily, Cygninae...
). - In the Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The GameScott Pilgrim vs. the World: The GameScott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game is a side-scrolling beat 'em up game based on the Scott Pilgrim series of comic books by Bryan Lee O'Malley, tying in with the release of the film of the same name. It is published by Ubisoft and developed by Ubisoft Montreal with Ubisoft Chengdu. The game was...
subspace highway screens, players may be rewarded with money by destroying flying Piggy Banks.
External links
- Humorous Internet memorandumApril Fools' Day RFCAlmost every April Fools' Day since 1989, the Internet Engineering Task Force has published one or more humorous RFC documents, following in the path blazed by the June 1973 RFC 527 entitled ARPAWOCKY, which parodied Lewis Carroll's nonsense poem Jabberwocky...
RFC 1925 insists that "with sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine."