cloud-cuckoo land
cloud-cuckoo land
A state or realm of unrealistic and idealized fancy, beyond the realms of possibility. Often preceded by "live/be in." He's always got some harebrained schemes on how to fix the world, all of them right out of cloud-cuckoo land! If Tom thinks he'll be able to live off his bad poetry, he's living in cloud-cuckoo land!
See also: land
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
cloud-cuckoo land
An idealized mythical domain, as in That idea about flying cars is straight out of cloud-cuckoo land. This expression originated as a translation from the Greek of Aristophanes' play The Birds, where it signifies the realm built by the birds to separate the gods from humankind. It came into use in the 1820s. During the 19th century it began to be used for a place of wildly fanciful dreams, unrealistic expectations, or the like, and it also acquired the connotation of "crazy" (from cuckoo, slang for "crazy" since about 1900). Also see la-la land; never-never land.
See also: land
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Cloud Cuckoo Land
A nonexistent place of perfection, a utopia. This phrase comes from The Birds by the Greek dramatist Aristophanes, in which the birds decide to build a perfect city called Cloud Cuckoo City. Over the years “City” became “Land.”
See also: cloud, cuckoo, land
Endangered Phrases by Steven D. Price
- Cloud Cuckoo Land
- la-la land
- la-la land, in
- cuckoo
- be in cloud-cuckoo land
- live in cloud-cuckoo land
- possibility
- realm
- beyond the realm(s) of possibility
- beyond/within the realms of possibility