man in the moon, (no more than) the
the man in the moon
An image on the visible surface of the moon likened to that of a person's face or body. My grandfather loved telling tall tales about the man in the moon coming down from the sky and making mischief while everyone is asleep.
See also: man, moon
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
the man in the moon
1 the imagined likeness of a face seen on the surface of a full moon. 2 used, especially in comparisons, to refer to someone regarded as out of touch with real life. 2 1991 Sight & Sound You thought…you could mention even the most famous classic films as reference points in script meetings and not be looked at like the man in the moon.
See also: man, moon
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
man in the moon, (no more than) the
A mythical figure, hence nothing, or a figment of the imagination. Mention of the man in the moon dates from the early fourteenth century. In Troilus and Criseyde Chaucer quotes, indirectly, a myth that a man who desecrated the Sabbath was banished to the moon. By the sixteenth century, however, this turn of phrase was linked with something so distant as to be unlikely (“as farre from her thought as the man that the rude people saie is in the moone,” Edward Hall, Chronicle of Richard III, ca. 1548).
See also: man, more
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- the man in the moon
- be over the moon
- over the moon
- promise (one) the moon
- promise someone the moon
- promise the moon
- promise the moon/earth/world
- blue moon
- once in a blue moon
- blood moon