Did you
know?

until the cows come home
idiom

- for a very long, indefinite amount of time; for forever.

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms

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ORIGIN

This term has been around since at least the early 17th century. In Beaumont and Fletcher’s play The Scornful Lady (1610) we read, “Kiss till the cow come home.”

Presumably the time it originally referred to is when cows return to the barn for milking - but nowadays it means a very long time indeed.

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IDIOMS

- as awkward as a cow on a crutch = used to describe a person who is very clumsy and often loses their balance

- a cash cow = a product, a service, or a person generating a lot of money

- a sacred cow = something that is considered so sacred or special that it shouldn’t be criticized

- How now, brown cow? = a funny way to greet someone (e.g. “How now, brown cow? What do you have planned for today?”)

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SYNONYMS

donkey’s years, aeons, all one’s born days, an eternity, forever and a day, a long long time, a month of Sundays, seemingly forever, years on end, yonks

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Practice OWAD in a conversation today, say something like:

“You will wait UNTIL THE COWS COME HOME before the board approves that proposal.”

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Paul Smith