In the language of any people, there are stable expressions, the meaning of which is clear without additional explanations. But the origin of some of them is difficult to explain without knowing the history of the people. And sometimes, in order to understand the origin of phraseological units, it is worth turning to the folklore of other peoples.
When talking about something impossible, people sometimes use the expression "when the cancer whistles on the mountain." Everyone knows that crayfish do not whistle and do not make sounds at all, with rare exceptions. In addition, the usual habitat of crayfish is water, and under no circumstances can a crayfish be on the mountain. Thus, the impossibility of a particular event is emphasized twice.
Where did the expression come from
The most common version refers to the city of Odessa in all the glory of its criminal folklore. Under the cancer was meant a real person - the thief-guest performer (marviher) Rakochinsky. The nickname Cancer was attached to him because of the appropriate appearance, which, in combination with the surname, fully justified itself.
According to one version, Rakochinsky, having lost some kind of bet, had to periodically whistle one of the districts of Odessa - Shkodova Gora, along which the bypass road passed. The road was used during the rains, the rest of the time it was empty. In all likelihood, Cancer was supposed to whistle on those days when there were intense rains over Odessa, which happened quite rarely, so there was no need to wait for the promised whistle from Rakochinsky.
Of course, Odessa is a wonderful and original city, which gave the world many satirists, anecdotes about Odessa citizens have become a pearl of folklore, but in this case it is doubtful that a single case formed the basis of a stable expression. Most likely, it was on the old proverb that the prevailing circumstances were superimposed, which once again demonstrates the originality of Odessa humor.
Should cancer only whistle?
The above version is refuted by the fact that there is a continuation of the adage - "when the cancer on the mountain whistles, when the fish sings."
Obviously, the saying was based on naturalistic observations. And the organization of observations in such a paradoxical form, the so-called oxymoron, is typical of oral folk art among different peoples.
Analogues of the phraseological unit "when the cancer whistles on the mountain" in Russian and foreign oral folk art
In the meaning of "never" can be considered a stable expression of the Russian language - "after a rain on Thursday", "before the carrot spell", "when the rooster lays an egg."
Other languages also have oxymorons with a similar meaning. In English - "when pigs fly" (when the pigs fly), in German - "Wenn Hunde mit dem Schwanz bellen" (when dogs bark their tails), in Hungarian "amikor a régi kalapot jön a pap gyónás" (when my old hat comes to the priest for confession). And almost every nation has such expressions.
