Idiom – A cold day in hell

A cold day in hell – Idiom of the Day

Meaning:

Used to indicate an event that will never happen.

History:

The origin of the idiom dates back to 1886, when it was used in a newspaper headline to praise General Gordon’s victory in the elections of Georgia. Also there are references to it being used in 1944 by a newspaper in Miami. There is also evidence in a newspaper in LosAngeles to the idiom being used in the recent past in 1990.

Idiom scenarios:

Scenario 1:

Friend 1: John is mad about fish and chicken.

Friend 2: Yeah, I know. But our office hosted a conference on Veganism in which John and I took part.

Friend 1: Do you think the conference would bring out any change in him?

Friend 2: Oh! It will be a cold day in hell when John turns Vegan.

Scenario 2:

Kate: Kim is so proud because he has graduated from Stanford.

Julie: It will be a cold day in hell when you stop gossiping about Kim.

Exercises:

Fill in the blanks to understand the usage of the idiom:

1. The day Ken quits smoking will be ……………………………………….
2. It will be ………………………………… before Shilpa and Ram tie the knots.
3. So it will be ………………………………….. when Oliver will stop borrowing money from Lisa.