till the cows come home
(redirected from 'til the cows come home)till the cows come home
For a very long, indefinite amount of time; forever. You can wait till the cows come home, but you'll never see that law passed in this country! My wife was talking on the phone with her sister till the cows came home last night!
until the cows come home
For a very long, indefinite amount of time; forever. You can wait until the cows come home, but you'll never see that law passed in this country! My wife was talking on the phone with her sister until the cows came home last night!
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
(un)til the cows come home
Rur. until the last; until very late. (Referring to the end of the day, when the cows come home to be fed and milked.) We were having so much fun that we decided to stay at the party until the cows camehome. Where've you been? Who said you could stay out till the cows come home?
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
till the cows come home
Also, when the cows come home. For a long time, as in You can keep asking till the cows come home, but you still may not go bungee-jumping. This term alludes to when the cows return to the barn for milking. [Late 1500s]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
until the cows come home
If you say that you could do something until the cows come home, you mean that you could do it for a very long time. You could argue till the cows come home about whether we were right to take action. We could speculate till the cows come home, but we still won't know for sure why he did what he did.
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012
till the cows come home
for an indefinitely long time. informalFarlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
till/until the ˈcows come home
(informal) for a long time, or for ever: You can talk till the cows come home, but you’ll never persuade me to go with you!Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017
till the cows come home
Informal For a very long time; indefinitely: They could argue till the cows come home and still not reach an agreement.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
not until the cows come home
Not for a long time. Presumably the time referred to is when cows return to the barn for milking. The term has been around since the late sixteenth century. Beaumont and Fletcher’s play The Scornful Lady (1610) stated, “Kiss till the cow come home.”
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer