until the cows freeze over
For a very long period of time.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
“You can argue until the cows come home, but I will not change my mind.”
“He practices his guitar until the cows come home every single day.”
“She stares at those old travel photos until the cows come home.”
“We sat in the cafe talking about our future plans until the cows came home.”
“The children can play outside until the cows come home as long as they finish their homework before dinner.”
“You can search for your lost keys until the cows come home, but you probably left them at the office.”
“The committee debated the complex policy changes until the cows came home, yet they still failed to reach a final consensus.”
The expression is a mixed metaphor, first recorded in the 20th century. It combines two established idioms of duration and impossibility: the 16th-century until the cows come home and the 20th-century when hell freezes over. No specific author is credited with the merger, which functions as a linguistic shortcut for an event that is not expected to occur within a reasonable timeframe.
Last updated August 10, 2026