/ˈkwando ʎi ˈazini voleˈranno/ lit. ‘when donkeys fly’
Italian idiom, everyday. It will never happen.
Draft Not yet checked by a native Italian speaker.
How do people use Quando gli asini voleranno
?
Everyday, usually a dry one-line reply to a plan you don’t believe in: “Paga lui? Sì, quando gli asini voleranno.” The verb stays in the future, “voleranno”. English Wiktionary tags it as an idiom.
Quando gli asini voleranno
in real sentences
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Quando gli asini voleranno!
When pigs fly!
Tatoeba, sentence by dnnywld, translation by gianich73, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does Quando gli asini voleranno
come from?
Nobody seems to know. English Wiktionary gives no etymology and no early quotation, and we found no dated first use. Flying animals as a sign of the impossible show up across Europe (pigs in English, hens with teeth in French), so Italian picked the donkey, the least airborne animal on the farm.
Mistakes learners make with Quando gli asini voleranno
Swapping in the English animal: “quando i maiali voleranno” is a calque. Also the article: before a vowel it’s “gli asini”, never “i asini”.
Other Italian idioms like Quando gli asini voleranno
Spot a mistake in Quando gli asini voleranno
?
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