a snowball's chance

This is the often heard shortened form of the idiom 'a snowball's chance in hell'. Hell is an immense and very hot place, a snowball is small and cold... it's chances of survival in such an inhospitable environment are therefore zero. Often used in business when a situation is completely hopeless: 'He doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of getting the job.' Example: 'The target of 2004 for completing trade talks was already highly optimistic... Now I don't see that it has A SNOWBALL'S CHANCE in hell of being met.' (BBC News - 22nd May 2002)