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Pigs Fly
The phrase "when pigs fly" (alternatively, "pigs might fly") is an adynaton—a figure of speech so hyperbole, 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 is being applied) will never occur. The phrase has been used in various forms since the 1600s as a sarcastic remark. History 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. In his Fourth Book of ''Gargantua and Pantagruel'' from 1553, François Rabelais makes the aphorism into a dramatic event, when the giant Pantagruel fights the Chitterlings and its champion, "a huge, fat, thick, grizzly swine, with long and large wings, like those of a windmill." The phrase appears in the 1865 ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''. Meaning "When pigs fly" is an adynaton, a way of saying that something will ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Pigs Might Fly, Milbury's - Geograph
The pig (''Sus domesticus''), also called swine (: swine) or hog, is an Omnivore, omnivorous, Domestication, domesticated, even-toed ungulate, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the genus ''Sus (genus), Sus''. Some authorities consider it a subspecies of ''Sus scrofa'' (the wild boar or Eurasian boar); other authorities consider it a distinct species. Pigs were domesticated in the Neolithic, both in China and in the Near East (around the Tigris, Tigris Basin). When domesticated pigs arrived in Europe, they extensively interbred with wild boar but retained their domesticated features. Pig farming, Pigs are farmed primarily for meat, called pork. The animal's skin or Hide (skin), hide is used for leather. China is the world's largest pork producer, followed by the European Union and then the United States. Around 1.5 billion pigs are raised each year, producing some 120 million tonnes of meat, often cured as bacon. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
