"When Pigs Fly..."

I went to my old book of "Refranes y modismos" I found these in Spanish...

 

Cuando la rana críe pelo. When the frog grows hair.

Cuando los sapos críen cola. When the toads grow a tail.

Cuando San Juan baje el dedo. When San Juan lowers his finger.

Cuando los pavos mastiquen tabaco. When turkeys chew tabacco.

 

Love your pic, it is well done, like the mariposas. Bravo! Regards.

Great fun, would make a good illustration for a children's book, to be enjoyed by child and adult alike.

On the topic of interesting idioms in different languages: the English expression "to pull somebody's leg" is "to pull somebody by the nose" in Swedish, and I was once told that an similar Spanish expression has to do with hair in the same vein... Now, illustrate that! :-)

Almost forgot, here's a detail closeup...

hehe gruszki na wierzbie - Pears on willow, prêdzej mi katus na rêku wyronie - cactus will grow on my hand sooner than you ...

Hey Jim,Croatian is very similar to Spanish as I can see :)"kad na zabi budu rasle dlake",simply -When the froggs grow hair-,also can be as an original:"kada svinje budu letjele" - simply;) when pigs fly.Bye.

Very original work.

"quand les poules auront des dents". translation: "when the hens have teeth"

A nice way to illustrate that saying. In Denmark it is:..."og grise kan flyve" which translated sounds :...and pigs can fly. But the most used saying in this situation is: ...you have to go further out in the country with that. Doing the flying pigs with wings from butterflies is a sweet idea. In my imagination flying pigs had wings of angels.

Is illustrating sayings you new theme to show us?

 

Sweet idea! How about a photo.net contest for the picture or illustration on a specific theme? Judged or voted.

Very well done Jim, Butterfly carry pig ;-) But pig can fly alone with butterlfies wings ;-) see galery at www.ice.org - no photos but inspirating

PS: in Czech "A opadá listí z dubu" When leafs fall from oaks

mostly, this is a "pretty" collage

Cuando las gallinas orinan...."When hens pee".

This would be great on my office wall! It's not an expression I would normally use, but it could work in a lot of situations. Interesting work.

Jim, of course you know that a literary source for winged pigs is Lewis Carroll: "The time has come", the Walrus said, "to talk of many things / Of shoes - and ships - and sealing wax / Of cabbages and kings / And why the sea is boiling hot / And whether pigs have wings" ("Through the looking glass", chapter 4, story of the Walrus and the Carpenter as told by Tweedledee and Tweedledum). Now come to think of it, all your work has a Carrollaesque quality; I bet you might be a great illustrator for a modern edition of "Alice in Wonderland". In Italy we also say "when donkeys fly", and "when lice cough". I think there was an old Russian joke about that; a boy asks his father, "Dad, do donkeys fly?" - "Aha, come on!" - "But it is written here, on The Pravda" - "Well, they can make looong jumps...".

I'm speekless...excellent, Jim