The informal idiom “not have a snowball’s chance in hell” describes a situation with essentially no chance of success. This guide limits the page to the current form, register, and meaning supported by Cambridge and does not add an unsupported origin story.
ReviewedEvidence1 sourceSectionPhrases & Idioms
Quick answer
“Not have a snowball’s chance in hell” means to have no realistic chance of succeeding.
Key details
Canonical Formnot have a snowball's chance in hell
Core Meaningto have no chance of succeeding
Registerinformal
Further guidance
History Boundary
This guide does not claim a single inventor, exact origin date, or first printed use.
Meaning
“Not have a snowball’s chance in hell” means to have no realistic chance of succeeding.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
“All in a day’s work” frames a demanding or unusual task as routine within someone’s work. This guide explains that present-day sense without claiming a first use or inventor.
“By Chance” means without being planned or intended, or without a known cause. Use it for accidental or unplanned occurrence; “by any chance” is a different expression often used to soften a question or request.
“It’s better to ask forgiveness than permission” expresses a preference for acting first when prior approval might block or delay the action, with the expectation that an apology can come later if necessary. It describes a risk-taking attitude; it is not a rule that removes legal, ethical, safety, or organizational approval requirements.
A snowball effect describes accelerating growth: as the process continues, its size or importance increases faster and faster. It is related to cascading consequences, but its defining image is compounding growth rather than simply one event causing the next.
U.S. Person Under Regulation AC is a current rule-defined or rule-incorporated term. This guide preserves the regulation-specific meaning and boundary instead of replacing it with informal shorthand.
“A blessing in disguise” describes something that initially seems bad or unlucky but later produces a good result. Specialist history places the printed phrase in the mid-eighteenth century, while earlier texts may express similar ideas without proving the same idiom.
“A Needle in a Haystack” means something that is extremely difficult or effectively impossible to find because the search area is so large. This guide focuses on the documented modern idiomatic meaning and does not claim an unsupported exact origin date.
“A piece of cake” is an informal way to describe something very easy to do. A well-known early printed citation appears in Ogden Nash’s 1930s collection The Primrose Path, but an early citation is not proof that Nash coined the expression.
