until the cows come home

短语

发音

AU

别名

till the cow come home 'til the cows come home till the cows come home

释义与例句

phr.
  1. 1.

    For a very long period of time.

    习语

    Near-synonym: until one is blue in the face

    You can crank the engine until the cows come home, but it won’t start without fuel.

    Now I can't stop lawyers from calling me names and saying I am guilty of judicial misconduct and that I am prejudiced, and this, that and the other thing, and you can keep that up until the cows come home; that is all right, and I take no umbrage at it.

词源

Possibly from the fact that cattle let out to pasture may be only expected to return for milking the next morning; thus, for example, a party that goes on “until the cows come home” is a very long one. Alternatively, the phrase may have a Scottish origin, and may derive from the fact that cattle in the Highlands are put out to graze on the common where grass is plentiful. They stay out for months before scarcity of food causes them to find their way home in the autumn for feeding (a pattern of seasonal grazing called transhumance).

来源：wiktionary