in the offing vs never

in the offing

prep
  • Within the area of the sea known as the offing; at a considerable distance from land, but visible from shore, often in reference to an approaching ship. 

  • Soon to come; likely to happen; in the foreseeable future; projected to occur; on the horizon; in the wind. 

  • At a distance, but visible. 

never

intj
  • A statement of defiance 

adv
  • Negative particle (used to negate verbs in the simple past tense; also used absolutely). 

  • At no time; on no occasion; in no circumstance. 

  • Not at any other time; not on any other occasion; not previously. 

How often have the words in the offing and never occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )