if pigs had wings, they would fly
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Expresses skepticism toward a hypothetical argument by another.
Register: colloquial
Where it’s used:
Used
American English
Examples
Asked by a reporter for The Chicago Tribune whether a conservative Christian college would risk its tax-exempt status by refusing to admit a legally married gay couple to married-student housing, Cass Sunstein, a constitutional scholar at the University of Chicago Law School who had not been at the
Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30 via kaikki.org).
Common questions
What does “if pigs had wings, they would fly” mean?
Expresses skepticism toward a hypothetical argument by another.
Is “if pigs had wings, they would fly” formal or informal?
if pigs had wings, they would fly is generally colloquial.