What's the connection between the fat lady singing to finish an opera and the horse puking in front of a pharmacy ?

Für was suchst Du nun eine Übersetzung, für die fat lady oder für die Pferde? Für Ersteres gibt es eine, für die zweite nicht.

I am looking for an as-close-as-possible equivalent to the puking horses mentioned in the German proverb. The fat lady etc. are the ones that I came up with myself, but I wonder if there's something better. Everyone I've talked to seems to just shrug their shoulders. And they were all born in the US. I'm just the guy with two passports...

The puking horses saying means that even improbable things do/can happen.
There is most likely some idiom in English for that as well.
After all -- one has even seen horses puking in front of a pharmacy ;-)

#4 Thanks. Have you? Really?

Horses are not able to puke ... anatomically, biologically ... it's just a saying that someone saw such a thing happen ...
The fat lady in the opera is a real thing ... not happening all the time ... but sometimes it's real ...

I still don't get it ...

Well, in a way I don't get it either - hence the question to this board.

The German saying implies that something utterly impossible might just happen anyway (and screw things up). And any equivalent saying (in English) I am trying to find out about ...

(the current economic crisis might act as a proper example, because it wasn't supposed to happen either)

And I also thought about good ol' Murphy ("if something can go wrong it will ..."), but that don't hit the spot either.

When hell freezes over, when pigs fly ...

Thanx. Not bad (and I appreciate that!), but I think the hell and the pigs imply that it won't happen, but the German saying means that something very highly unlikely and unexpected might just happen.

A puking horse is never going to happen too ... so Carullus might be right ...

To #10: I didn't say he was wrong. There might be no equivalent. The way this saying is used by Germans is to imply that something absolutely unexpected can go wrong in the very last minute.

Maybe you can make up your own:

But then, even lawyers have been known to tell the truth...

or whatever strikes you as very unlikely.

You never know, anything can happen.

:) Keep 'em coming, thanks - including the old motto of the NYS lottery "you never know" ...

There's a first time for everything.

The Kman: Du hast englische Varianten der Aussage (# 8 ist sehr klar) bekommen - wonach suchst du noch? Kann es sein, dass du das Deutsche nicht verstanden hast?

Pferde KÖNNEN nicht erbrechen.
Es wird NIE geschehen, dass ein Pferd erbricht (vulgär: "kotzt").
Nicht vor der Apotheke, nicht auf der Weide, nicht in deinem Schlafzimmer.

So???

Based on the Kman's link:

Ich habe schon Pferde vor der Apotheke kotzen sehen.
Bedeutung der Redensart

Pferde können nicht Kotzen (siehe Erläuterungen oben) und wenn das dann auch noch ausgerechnet vor der Apotheke, wo es ja eigentlich die passende Arznei geben sollte, passiert, ist das sehr unwahrscheinlich. Zentral ist bei dieser Redewendung also die Unmöglichkeit.

Diese Redensart wird entweder dann benutzt, wenn man (a) etwas extrem Unwahrscheinliches für möglich hält, weil man in seinem Leben schon sehr viel erlebt hat und praktisch alles für möglich hält oder (b) wenn man jemand anderen etwas nicht glaubt, weil man es für völlig ausgeschlossen hält.

#16 I happen to have being born in Germany more years ago than I'd like to admit and I spent the last 21+ in the US, so I think that I can grasp the German part quite well. Again - there may not be a perfect equivalent anyway - but - hey - I am still curious.

Again "ich hab' schon Pferde vor der Apotheke kotzen sehen" means (from the point of the person that says that) that something almost impossibel to imagine might nuke a set game plan at the very last minute. And my question was, if there is something that mirrors that in English.

Have You Ever Seen a Horse Fuck a Bear?

Have you ever seen a horse irish dancing?

Have you ever seen a horse ride a human?

Have you ever seen a horse parade? :-))

Very funny. Thank you!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qt0_oPPK6eA

How about Murphy's Law?

A Hail Mary pass?

When you wish upon a star?

Do you believe in Tinkerbell? Can you bring her back to life? Then clap! (Wish I could remember or find the quote.)

Just one bump to catch for ideas.

I really appreciate what has been contributed. Very much!

But the hail mary is a last ditch effort not describing something that blows up at the last minute (for instance). Similar goes for the star and tinkerbell.

Guess there is no equivalent for the horses that can't puke but do it anyway?

Auch zu kotzenden Pferden gab es schon einen Thread:
related discussion: Ich hab´schon Pferde kotzen seh´n

(@Dragon, Is this a thread revival?)

I've seen everything under the sun, but this was a new planet.
The strangest things do occur.
I'd have never believed it in a million years.

(The context is iffy ... for horses!)

I’d say "Pigs might fly" is very close = I don't believe it - that's impossible.

But as dude says, that’s only one context

 

WHEN I SEE AN ELEPHANT FLY
[aus urheberrechtl. Gründen sicherheitshalber vom LEO-Team gelöscht]

#26,

[
-?~~
[

(My best sideways Dumbo.^^)

Never say "never."

(Seann Connery)

Thanks for the hint about the other thread!

I wasn't aware that the barfing horses saying has the connotation that "...it might happen after all and mess everything up." I thought it was just used to express the opinion that something was highly unlikely.

I'd agree with SD3 and say "Never say 'never'!" is spot on. After all, the German equivalent is often used together with the puking-horses sentence. To top it off, you might add opine's suggestion to that.

"Sag niemals Nie! - Schließlich hat man schon Pferde kotzen sehen!"
"Never say never! - The strangest things do occur!"

- I don't see the difference between both statements. In my opinion you can swap them and it doesn't change the meaning in the slightest.

"The strangest things do occur! - Never say Never!"

Very unlikely things to happen: Black Swans - quite common in the business risk environment.

Again "ich hab' schon Pferde vor der Apotheke kotzen sehen" means (from the point of the person that says that) that something almost impossibel to imagine might nuke a set game plan at the very last minute. [#18]

Diese Redensart wird entweder dann benutzt, wenn man (a) etwas extrem Unwahrscheinliches für möglich hält, weil man in seinem Leben schon sehr viel erlebt hat und praktisch alles für möglich hält [#17]

"The strangest things do occur!"
The more idiomatic sounding version to my AE ears is: "Stranger things have happened." It's a set phrase.

But "Never say never" would fit too.