that'll be the day
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Originally referring to a significant day in the future regarded as worth waiting for.[1]
Pronunciation[edit]
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌðætl̩ biː ðə ˈdeɪ/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˌðætl̩ bi ðə ˈdeɪ/
Audio (AU) (file)
Phrase[edit]
- (originally Australia, New Zealand, idiomatic, informal) Said in reply to something that one believes will never happen.
- Synonym: that'll be the frosty Friday
- I’m going to get into work on time today. — That’ll be the day!
Translations[edit]
said in reply to something that one believes will never happen
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See also[edit]
- a cold day in hell
- a week from next Tuesday
- until the cows come home
- when hell freezes over
- when pigs fly
References[edit]
- ^ “that’ll (also that will) be the day, phrase” under “day, n.”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, September 2023; “that will be the day, phrase” under “day, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.