German idoms for "no" or "very unlikely"

Does anyone know any good German idioms for a very strong “no”?

In English, I can think of “Not a snowball’s chance in Hell” or “No way Jose”. How would you convey that auf Deutsch?

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There are quite a few. It all depends on the context they are used in.
Here are a some that come to mind (although not all are strictly idioms)

Talking directly to someone:

“Das kommt nicht in die Tüte!” ≈ “That is definitely not happening!
“Auf keinen Fall” = “No way!”
“in keinerlei Hinsicht” = “In no way”
“um kein Haar” = " Not a whit” / “not at all”
unter keinen Umständen = “under no circumstances”
“nicht im Geringsten” = “not in the slightest”
“partout nicht” = “absolutely not” ( partout → fr. „überall“)
“Um keinen Preis der Welt” ≈ "not for all the coffee in Brazil / “not for anything in the world”

Interestingly the origin of “Das kommt (mir) nicht in die Tüte” (colloquial) is somewhat unresolved, although it has been used since the end of the 19th century. One possible explanation could be, that it refers to a reference made to the older form “Deut” for bag. In the 17th/ 18th century, for example, a roll of money wrapped in paper was called “eine deute Geldes." Since “Deut” also usually means as much as “nothing” (keinen Deut besser sein / wert sein ), the confusion of the two etymologically unrelated words may have led to the development and use of this expression.

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Wow, awesome list! Thanks :slight_smile:

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