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until the cows come home

until the cows come home

Date: Dec 06 2007

Themes: Music, Pop Culture

Quote

1. Quote - Listen to the quote and guess what the slang means.

“I’m not interested in doing things that are comfortable. I can write PJ Harvey albums until the cows come home, but that doesn’t interest me.”

- British recording artist PJ Harvey on varying her sound. (Spin)

Definition

1. Definition - Study the definition.

indefinitely; without end; for a very long time

2. Use - Learn how the slang is used.

At one point in time, people must have waited around for their cows to come in at the end of the night. Apparently that was a very slow process because, although it no longer has anything to do with animals, the idiom until the cows come home means for a very, very long time.

PJ Harvey released her first solo album in 1995 and since then she has changed her style many times. She has used blues, different styles of rock, and outrageous costumes. Her latest album, White Chalk, finds her playing piano instead of guitar and singing dark songs.

Of course, many artists make records that all sound similar. But that doesn’t interest PJ Harvey. She says she could make the same record over and over until the end of time…or until the cows come home...but she doesn’t want to. She wants to try something new every time.

PJ Harvey uses until the cows come home to mean “many years” or “forever” but you can also use it to mean for a few hours if a few hours would be a long time in the context. You could say, “My father was very angry with me so he yelled until the cows came home. The expression is just used to describe an unusually long or outrageous amount of time for something to go on.

Examples

1. Examples - Hear some example sentences.

“I can explain this to you until the cows come home but you’re just never going to get it until you try it.”

“Why, when I was a little girl, we’d light a fire and just sing and sing until the cows came home.”

Winners

1. Winners - See who guessed the slang definition correctly.

zeus2006 I guess,its meaning is for a very long time,or for ever.
by zeus2006Super Member!
for a long time
by samantha tan
永恒破灭者 for a very long time
by 永恒破灭者
a very long time
by apples cool
GavinZheng i think maybe it means for a long time.
by GavinZheng
liru Forever.
by liru
a large period of time
by isavander
for a very long time
by periwinkle.chic
endlessly
by DerIschkan
for a very long time
by wangjie
for ever; a long time
by alexan2008
for a long time, coz a cow can't find home once it gets lost
by sophie23
lira I think the answer is for a very long time
by lira
maitrang88 forever
by maitrang88
For a very very long time
by cesarmolina
endlessly
by Dikunia
rascal22 for a very long time; even forever.
by rascal22
VickG It means long long time.
by VickG
all day long...
by patricia_divina_velasquez
I think that it means "forever".
by Bai cq
babyxiao sine die, for an indefinite time, likely for ever.
by babyxiao
for a very long time
by Anne Tran
forevermore, sine die.
by babyfaceding
 el javis for long time
by el javis
3alloola Forever, or for a very long time.
by 3alloola
endlessly
by laly45
forever
by closs61
m@nuelm@d until the cows come home = lot of time...because cows are very slow animals.
by m@nuelm@d
annan69 forever
by annan69
For long time
by Stas21
laraxu on and on with no end
by laraxu
it sounds like " for a really long time"
by gumpa
endlessly
by Austinpowers
this means endlessly, "till the hell freezes over" :)
by JCool
For a very long time Forever
by Pinky Rose
untill end af the world
by ati_n
until the end of eternity
by ananddeva
dearpesar long time........ i think
by dearpesar
until forever
by john_ronand
I think it means doing some activity upto the extreme length. Or we can say that doing something for very long duration.
by neelofer
new-c Time refernce: for a long time, all day
by new-c
yu er means " forever "
by yu er
it means to an indefinite time or forever
by nomoregreen!
forever
by LO
its a phrase used for a very long time. e.i(We could talk about this problem until the cows come home, but it wouldn't solve anything). and (You can diet until the cows come home, and you still won't be a size 4).
by omar_beyaty

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Comments

Log in to Comment

iwori

iwori

Japan

How nice!

I want to be a fluent English speaker before until the cows come home!

10:07 AM Nov 23 2009 |

shad84

shad84

United States

it means a very very looooooooong but not that loooooooooong time

01:30 PM Mar 03 2009 |

irlubrica12

Philippines

long narration

05:02 PM Feb 24 2008 |

izam8480

izam8480

Malaysia

its very interesting to learn a new thing everyday and everywhere until the cows come home

03:38 PM Dec 12 2007 |

JOHN1988

JOHN1988

China

good

11:03 AM Dec 12 2007 |

Baby!Go

Baby!Go

China

forever.

12:34 PM Dec 11 2007 |

Fariohermit

Mongolia

for a long time

08:40 AM Dec 11 2007 |

ZoRRo

ZoRRo

Azerbaijan

it means so long time…in my country it is sayed as donkey come from getting water

04:45 PM Dec 10 2007 |

Demmi

China

it’s very interesting

09:52 AM Dec 10 2007 |

tangle8000

tangle8000

China

i was watting for you until the cows came home!

09:23 AM Dec 10 2007 |

smiyia

smiyia

China

too long a time to wait, such a long time ,and it’s vary hard to wait

04:14 AM Dec 10 2007 |

abdeeq

abdeeq

Somalia

great

03:53 PM Dec 09 2007 |

Jerryxlj

Jerryxlj

China

I’ll study english until the cows come home

05:27 AM Dec 09 2007 |

daya81

daya81

Iraq

you help me to know what home is . ilike my country ,and the cows.

11:47 PM Dec 07 2007 |

abu_rayah

abu_rayah

Saudi Arabia

for long time

09:49 PM Dec 07 2007 |

echo_315

China

forever

02:15 PM Dec 07 2007 |

Mendozabob

Mendozabob

China

i love it!

11:18 AM Dec 07 2007 |

sexeuleen

India

its very nise meaning .i like to learn english with my englishbaby friends until the crows come home.

09:59 AM Dec 07 2007 |

tny

Nigeria

for ever lasting
till infinity

09:54 AM Dec 07 2007 |

smalljoy

China

for long time

02:49 AM Dec 07 2007 |

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