till the cows come home

Cultural  

1. For a long time: “Mr. Rowland said that as far as he was concerned, the delinquent students could stay there washing blackboards till the cows came home.”

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till the cows come home Idioms  

1. Also, when the cows come home. For a long time, as in You can keep asking till the cows come home, but you still may not go bungee-jumping. This term alludes to when the cows return to the barn for milking. [Late 1500s]

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Example Sentences

"We can talk till the cows come home, but actually we want to see change happen, and we're just not seeing that happen."

From BBC • Jun. 26, 2025

“We can do genealogy research till the cows come home, but without DNA, we would never know that information,” Comer says.

From Science Magazine • Feb. 17, 2024

We can yank out our lawns, drive electric cars and compost till the cows come home, but how are we going to keep mountains of palm fronds from filling our dumps?

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 28, 2018

We can argue till the cows come home whether that's good or bad, or even whether it's any of their business how Franken chooses to act.

From New York Times • Dec. 13, 2017

I can comfort her till the cows come home.

From "I Am the Messenger" by Markus Zusak

Related Words

• abiding
• continuing
• deep-rooted
• durable
• eternal
• everlasting
• indelible
• lifelong
• long-term
• permanent
• stable