Till the Cows Come Home

Also: Until the cows come home

Meaning of Idiom “Till the Cows Come Home’

Till the cows come home means a vey long time, perhaps forever; an indefinite but long period of time. ¹Heacock, Paul. Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms]. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2010.,²Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. ³Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.,Cresswell, Julia. Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins. Oxford Univ. Press, 2010.,⁴Bengelsdorf, Peter. Idioms in the News – 1,000 Phrases, Real Examples. N.p.: Amz Digital Services, 2012.

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Examples Of Use

“You can keep nagging me till the cows come home but I don’t want another cat. We already have three!”

“I can run on the treadmill until the cows come home but I’ll never lose any weight.”

“I love Mexican food! I can eat it till the cows come home.”

“I’ll warrant you lay a bed [in bed] till the cows come home.” Jonathan Swift (1738)

Origin

This idiom has been used since the late 1500s, alluding to cows coming home to milk. Although it is easy to imagine cows taking a long time to come home, it is not clear why cows in particular are the subject of this idiom. note]Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. ⁵Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.,Cresswell, Julia. Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins. Oxford Univ. Press, 2010.[/note]

More Idioms Starting with T

• Take Your Lumps
• Throw Down the Gauntlet
• Think Twice
• There’s No Accounting for Tastes
• Take off Something

More Animal Idioms

• Night Owl
• Chicken Out
• Holy Cow
• No Spring Chicken
• Crocodile Tears
• Snake in the Grass
• Cry Wolf

More Come Idioms

• When it Comes to Something
• Johnny-Come-Lately
• Come To A Head
• Come Into Someone’s Head
• Come In Handy

More Cow Idioms

• Holy Cow
• Cash Cow

More Home Idioms

• Nothing To Write Home About

More Until/Till Idioms

• When Hell Freezes Over