This saying means "when your luck changes (from bad to good)" or "when things are running more in your favor".
It is probably a throwback to a time when air transport did not exist, and the transport of goods or loved ones took a very long time. Merchants waited and waited for goods to show up - that often did never show up - while their families grew hungrier, and lovers waited interminably for their suitor to arrive, or perhaps even a letter, which often took months to deliver, while their hearts grew sadder.
Examples of "when your ship comes in":
When any investment or business venture suddenly becomes hugely profitable.
A sudden unexpected life changing event, like a huge lottery win.
A long expected positive event or development finally happens and changes the recipient's life.
"To be" is not an idiom - it's a verb.
Pest is not an idiom. It's a word.
The idiom "apple shiner" means the teacher's pet.
The meaning of the idiom in the pink of health means being in good health.
Thought to be Norwegian 'jaght' - literally meaning a 'ship for chasing'
This is NOT an idiom -- when you hear AS __ AS __ you have A Simile. The correct simile would be "we're all in the same boat," meaning "we have the same circumstances for everyone."
It comes, literally, from assembling all of a ship's crew (all hands) at their mustering point on the ship's deck. This would occur typically in a battle situation. The idiom suggests that all personnel are needed, as for a major undertaking or project.
"To be" is not an idiom - it's a verb.
Pest is not an idiom. It's a word.
The idiom "apple shiner" means the teacher's pet.
The meaning of the idiom in the pink of health means being in good health.
Thought to be Norwegian 'jaght' - literally meaning a 'ship for chasing'
The idiom means impress someone is egg on
It's not an idiom - to cope means to deal with, or to handle
"Old hand" is an idiom meaning having lots of experience.
It is not an idiom. It is an expression. The difference is that an idiom's meaning cannot be derived from the meaning of its individual words. In the expression wolfing down food, the meaning is clearly derived from the meaning of the words, and people have been saying it for hundreds of years.
No. This is not an idiom. An idiom is a group of words whose meaning is different from the meanings of the individual words. So it is not easy to know the meaning of an idiom. For example 'Let the cat out of the bag' is an idiom meaning to tell a secret by mistake. The meaning has nothing to do with cats or bags. "Treat others like you would want them to treat you" is a saying,