don't hold your breath

Suggesting that if one were to hold one's breath while waiting for the expected event, one would die before it happened

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don't hold your breath

1. (idiomatic, imperative) Don't wait. Said cynically to suggest that what has just been mentioned is unlikely to happen soon or at all.

   - The government says it's going to introduce free meals for all schoolchildren.
   - Huh, don't hold your breath.

   • 2021 February 24, Christian Wolmar, “Franchising still exists - under tight Departmental control”, in RAIL, number 925, page 48:

     Don't hold your breath and don't jump to conclusions, but there is likely to be an announcement about the future of the railways in the next few weeks - [...].

• breathholding
• with bated breath