Meaning & Analysis
In the standard weekly calendar, Sundays are invariably separated by six other days. Therefore, it is chronologically impossible for two Sundays to occur consecutively or simultaneously.
Insights
Absolute Refusal
The phrase serves as a categorical 'no' masquerading as a conditional agreement. By setting a deadline that can technically never be met, the speaker permanently rejects a proposal, debt, or expectation.
The Horizon of Never
It designates a point in time that does not exist. Synonymous with 'never,' it is used to mock unrealistic hopes or to describe promises that will remain unfulfilled forever.
Test of Credulity
As indicated by the 1666 citation linking it to the 'green cheese' moon, asserting this possibility functions as a litmus test for gullibility; only a fool would believe such a conjunction is possible.
Rhetoric of Adynaton
This is a classic example of *adynaton*, a rhetorical device that expresses the magnitude of an impossibility by referencing an event that violates the laws of nature. It belongs to a rich folk tradition of impossibilia, akin to 'when pigs fly' or 'when hell freezes over.'
Classical Lineage
John Ray (1670) explicitly links this to the Roman proverb *Ad Graecas calendas* ('at the Greek Calends'). Since the Greek calendar system did not use 'Calends' (a Roman feature), the phrase meant 'never.' The English version domesticates this concept, swapping administrative terms for the familiar rhythm of the Christian week.
A Fictional Calendar
The proverb sits alongside other 'phantom dates' in English folklore, such as 'Latter Lammas,' 'St. Tib's Eve,' or 'Nevermass.' These non-existent holidays provided a sarcastic vocabulary for avoiding debts and commitments without using a flat refusal.
Sacred Order
The humor relies on the rigidity of the liturgical week. Sunday was the divinely appointed day of rest; the idea of two crashing together suggests a chaotic disruption of God’s order, heightening the sense of absurdity.
Rhetorical Devices
Irony
The sentence structure ('When...') initially signals a willingness to set a time or condition, only to subvert that expectation with an impossible variable.
Paradox
The juxtaposition of 'two' and 'Sunday' (inherently a singular weekly peak) creates a logical contradiction that makes the impossibility immediately intuitive.
Hyperbole
It stretches the concept of waiting to an infinite duration, emphasizing the futility of the expectation.
Transcription
Quotations
But Matt, art thou so mad as to turne French? —Yes marry when two Sundays come together.
(fall together).
(To be on such a time as when).
To make one believe one thing for another, that two Sundaies may come together, or that the Moon is made of green Cheese.
When two Sundays meet. *Ad Graecas calendas.
At latter Lammas; at Nevermass; when two sundays come together.
When two Sundays meet, that is never.
Cross References
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
Used under CC BY-NC 3.0.