until the cows come home

[sweet_girlie]

where did the phrase 'until the cows come home' come from?

[Quizmonster]

Here's a quote from a book published in 1610: "Drinking, eating, feasting and revelling till the cows come home as the saying is." If it was 'a saying' 400 years ago, there's little hope that we'll ever discover where it originated. It's simply proverbial, in other words.

[Quizmonster]

I should have added to the answer above that cows are creatures of habit...they know when it's milking-time, when it's feeding-time etc. Similarly, they know when it's time to head back from the field to their shed for the night. So, "until the cows come home" just means until the very end/last moment.

[Cetti]

Even the usually dependable Brewers can't give the origin - it just gives the meaning as: 'Not for a long time, if at all'.

[chasemarkey]

Cows are great but not too ight-bray:

if astray, they have NO CLUE where "home" is...

hence, they will NEVER, EVER GET HOME!...and the phrase means, it ain't gonna EVER happen!