From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Flying pig
Flying pig
in Wayne’s World skits and movies. They are examples
of adynata.[2] In Finnish, the expression "kun lehmät
lentävät" (when cows fly) is used because of its allitera-
tion.
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?":
• "I’m sure that the cows will make a permanent
colony on the Moon by the end of 2012."
A doctored photograph showing a flying pig • "Yeah, sure. See a tank rolling in here?" (lowering
the eyelid)
when fly"
The phrase "when pigs fly is an adynaton—a figure of • "Well, maybe not 2012, but 2013, surely."
speech so hyperbolic that it describes an impossibility. • "Maybe at least a gun barrel sticks out?" (repeating
The implication of such a phrase is that the circum- the gesture.)
stances in question (the adynaton, and the circumstances The idiom is apparently derived from a centuries-old
to which the adynaton are being applied) will never oc- Scottish proverb, though some other references to pigs
cur. flying or pigs with wings are more famous. At least one
Because of the historical importance of the pig in- appears in the works of Lewis Carroll:
dustry to the city, prominent in the local iconography of
Cincinnati are such events as the Big Pig Gig and the Fly- "Thinking again?" the Duchess asked, with another
ing Pig Marathon. dig of her sharp little chin.
"I’ve a right to think," said Alice sharply, for she
Meaning was beginning to feel a little worried.
"Just about as much right," said the Duchess, "as
"When pigs fly" is an adynaton, a way of saying that pigs have to fly...." — Alice’s Adventures in Wonder-
something will never happen. The phrase is often used land, Chapter 9.
for humorous effect, to scoff at over-ambition. There are
numerous variations on the theme; when an individual American literature author John Steinbeck was told by
with a reputation for failure finally succeeds, onlookers his professor that he would be an author when pigs flew.
may sarcastically claim to see a flying pig. ("Hey look! When he eventually became a novelist, he started to
A flying pig!") [1] Other variations on the phrase include print every book he wrote with the insignia "Ad astra per
"And pigs will fly", this one in retort to an outlandish alia porci" (to the stars on the wings of a pig).[3]
statement.
An example occurs in the film The Eagle Has Landed:
an Irish secret agent working for the Nazis replies to a
In popular culture
German general speaking of Germany’s shortly winning • In the 1968 movie The Lion in Winter, King Henry II
World War II, "Pigs may fly, general, but I doubt it!" Later, tells his wife Eleanor of Aquitane "When pigs have
when the Irishman sees German soldiers parachuting be- wings!". She replies "There’ll be pork in the trees
fore an attack, he says to himself, "Mother of God! Flying come morning!"
pigs!" • Pink Floyd had a flying pig on the cover of the
An identical phrase, used to express impossibilities, Animals album, and since then has used a flying pig
exists in Romanian, Când o zbura porcul, literally meaning as a prop for concerts. See Pink Floyd pigs.
"When the pig shall fly"; an equivalent also implying an • A 1996 musical When Pigs Fly.
animal is La Paștele cailor, literally: "on horses’ Easter". • In The Simpsons episode, "Lisa the Vegetarian", Lisa
Similar phrases in English include "when hell freezes pushes Homer’s prize pig down a hill into a river,
over", the Latin expression "to the Greek calends," and where it ends up getting shot through the air by a
"and monkeys might fly out of my butt", popularized dam’s spillway suction. In his office Mr Burns says to
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Flying pig
Smithers he would like to do something charitable
with his wealth. When Smithers questions this, he
References
answers "when pigs fly". The pig then passes his [1] http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-pig1.htm
window in flight, at which point he admits he would [2] Haylett, Trevor (June 4, 1993). "Tennis: Martina
still like to keep his money. primed for revenge". The Independent.
• As a reference to the phrase, in the game Viva Piñata, http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/tennis-
you can obtain a Pigxie, a pig-like piñata with wings, martina-primed-for-revenge-1489623.html.
by crossbreeding a Rashberry (piñata based on a pig) Retrieved May 13, 2009.
with a Swanana (piñata based on a swan).[4] [3] John Steinbeck: A Biography, Jay Parini, Holt
• In the Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game Publishing, 1996
subspace highway screens, players may be rewarded [4] Pigxie - Viva Piñata Wiki
with money by destroying flying Piggy Banks.
• In Hexen the player can be turned into a pig and use
wings of wrath, this results in a flying pig.
External links
• Humorous Internet memorandum RFC 1925 insists
that "with sufficient thrust, pigs fly just fine."
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Flying_pig&oldid=474031758"
Categories:
• Fictional pigs
• Figures of speech
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