a cold day in July
The time of occurrence of an event that will never happen.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“He will apologize on a cold day in July.”
“I will lend you my car on a cold day in July, so please stop asking.”
“The politician promised to lower taxes, but everyone knew that would happen on a cold day in July.”
The idiom draws upon the Northern Hemisphere’s climatic reliably, noting that July is on average the hottest month of the year. The phrase functions as a marker of the improbable, predicated on the statistical certainty that a day of significant cold would be a meteorological aberration during that specific month.
- 01
a day late and a dollar short
Too late and too feeble to achieve the desired effect.
- 02
a year and a day
A long time.
- 03
all one's born days
One's whole life.
- 04
as the day is long
Unceasingly; very; thoroughly; to a very high degree.
- 05
bad hair day
A day when things seem to be unmanageable or go wrong.
- 06
bad old days
The past, seen as a time when things were worse.
- 07
banyan day
In British naval tradition, a day of the week when galley kitchens served no meat on board ship.
- 08
black day
A day of great disaster, misfortune or unhappiness.
Last updated August 10, 2026