Sankt-Nimmerleins-Tag
German
Etymology
From Sankt Nimmerlein (“fictional saint”) + -s- + Tag (“day”). The first part is Sankt + nimmer + -lein, so a saint whose name day never comes. Compare Dutch sint-juttemis and French à la Saint-Glinglin.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /zaŋktˈnɪmərlaɪ̯nsˌtaːk/
- Hyphenation: Sankt‧Nim‧mer‧leins‧Tag
Noun
Sankt-Nimmerleins-Tag m (genitive Sankt-Nimmerleins-Tages or Sankt-Nimmerleins-Tags, plural Sankt-Nimmerleins-Tage)
- first of never, cold day in Hell; (+ zum/am/auf) when pigs fly, when Hell freezes over; (+ bis) until the cows come home, until doomsday