Expression française expliquée : ce n’est pas demain la veille
A2 French poslechová cvičení · Francouzština · Vybráno pro začátečníci
What does “ce n’est pas demain la veille” mean?
Ce n’est pas demain la veille means something won’t happen for a very long time, maybe never. The logic is a tiny time-puzzle: la veille is the day before an event, so if even tomorrow isn’t the day before it, the event is pushed far into the future. It’s the resigned, slightly dry French equivalent of “that’ll be the day” or “not anytime soon.”
You drop it after describing something hopeless: Pierre pleure encore tous les jours, ce n’est pas demain la veille qu’il va l’oublier — he’s nowhere near getting over it. Or about yourself: ce n’est pas demain la veille que je vais pouvoir prendre des vacances, with the workload I’ve got. The phrase has been around since at least 1905 and stays firmly in casual, spoken French.