# Greek calends

idiom

Source: https://englishreference.com/idiom/greek-calends
Updated: 2026-08-10

## Meaning

A time that never occurs; never; when pigs fly.

## Examples

- He will pay you back on the Greek calends.
- The boss gives us a raise on the Greek calends.
- She finishes her long novel on the Greek calends.
- The committee promised to review our proposal, but we know they will get to it on the Greek calends.
- My lazy roommate says he will clean the entire garage on the Greek calends, so I am not holding my breath.
- If you wait for that old car to start working perfectly again, you will be waiting until the Greek calends.
- The developer keeps promising a bug-free version of the software, but after ten delays, I expect the update to arrive on the Greek calends.
- The politician pledged to address the systemic inequality, yet his vague timeline suggested the reforms would arrive only on the Greek calends.

## Origin

From the Latin phrase *ad kalendās Graecās*, signifying a date that does not exist. While the Roman calendar relied upon the calends as the first day of each month, the Greek calendar possessed no such division. To settle a debt on the Greek calends was, therefore, a formal method of declining to pay it at all.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.