don't hold your breath

English

Etymology

Suggesting that if one were to hold one's breath while waiting for the expected event, one would die before it happened

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

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Phrase

don't hold your breath

1. (idiomatic, imperative) Don't wait. Said cynically to suggest that what has just been mentioned is unlikely to happen soon or at all.

   - The government says it's going to introduce free meals for all schoolchildren.
   - Huh, don't hold your breath.

   • 2021 February 24, Christian Wolmar, “Franchising still exists - under tight Departmental control”, in RAIL, number 925, page 48:

     Don't hold your breath and don't jump to conclusions, but there is likely to be an announcement about the future of the railways in the next few weeks - [...].

Related terms

• breathholding
• with bated breath

Translations

don't wait

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Danish: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: älä odota liikoja
• German: da kannst du lange drauf warten, darauf kannst du lange warten, darauf können Sie lange warten
• Italian: ce n'è da aspettare
• Portuguese: espera sentado
• Russian: держи́ карма́н ши́ре (ru) (derží karmán šíre) /lit: hold your pocket wider/, раскати́л губу́ (raskatíl gubú) /lit: you've unrolled your lip/
• Spanish: espera sentado