never-never land

never never land

A fictional or imaginary place where everything is perfect and everyone is happy. Popularized as the name of the fantastical place in the stories of Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie, the phrase is sometimes capitalized; "never never" is also sometimes hyphenated. She must think she lives in never never land if she expects a high-paying job to be waiting for her straight out of college! I'm sorry, but Senator Smith is in never-never land. There is simply no way that this legislation will result in anything other than economic disaster! The incredible views atop the mountain pass make you feel as if you had been transported to Never Never Land.
See also: land, never
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

never-never land

A fantasy land, an imaginary place, as in I don't know what's gotten into Marge-she's way off in never-never land. This expression gained currency when James Barrie used it in Peter Pan (1904) for the place where Peter and the Lost Boys live. However, in the second half of the 1800s Australians already were using it for vast unsettled areas of their continent ( the outback), and there the term became popular through Mrs. Aeneas Gunn's We of the Never Never (1908). In Australia it still refers to northwest Queensland or northern Australia in general. Elsewhere it simply signifies a fantasy or daydream.
See also: land
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

never-never land

an imaginary utopian place or situation.
This expression is often used with allusion to the imaginary country in J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan ( 1904 ). The term was used earlier to denote the remote and unpopulated northern part of the Northern Territory and Queensland in Australia (from which, it is implied, a person might never return).
See also: land
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • never never land
  • defect to
  • defect to (something)
  • ditch (some place)
  • Mecca for
  • barrel in
  • barrel in(to)
  • come on into (some place)
  • come right in
  • know (one's) place
References in periodicals archive
But Labour hit back, accusing the SNP of "living in never-never land"over the real extent of the oil wealth.
SNP: CRUDE IS FUTURE; Govt says Scotland could go it alone
Those with initiative move to areas where they can improve the family income, rather than inhabiting a never-never land of false hopes and stifled dreams.
YOUR VIEW: No logic in housing curb
"If you're in never-never land you would have great pitches like bowling greens, maybe," he said.
Football: TIME TO STAN UP AND BE COUNTED; REPUBLIC OF IRELAND KEANE SENT HOME IN WORLD CUP SENSATION New skipper urges squad to get on with the job
Craig Denston's sweet orange set, a wooden hut with sloping roof and cuckoo clock, evokes the strange never-never land of fairy tales and there is much fun to be had with dressing up and dancing.
Young show doesn't put its little foot in it; Whose Shoes? Midlands Arts Centre
He skipped through Never-Never Land with him climbing trees and encouraging him to expose his troubled and confused character.
Kaye Adams; Kids are first victims when the going gets tough
She is one of the dynasty which founded and still runs the Italianate village of Portmeirion, the magical never-never land built on a tiny peninsula jutting out into the Glaslyn estuary that was dreamt up by her late father, renowned architect Sir Clough Williams-Ellis.
Still drawn by the deep at the age of 83; The work of Welsh designer Susan Williams-Ellis has been cherished for decades on dining tables across the globe on ceramics from Portmeirion Potteries. These days though, her passion is for underwater drawing, as she told Ian Parri
The Tories seem to be living in a never-never land where black is white and two and two make 22.
Routledge : FANTASY WORLD OF HAGUE
The truth is that Tory promises on public services belong in never-never land. They are actually pledged to cut pounds 16 billion from public spending which can only mean fewer doctors and nurses, fewer teachers and fewer police.
Tory fantasy that's increasingly hard to believe in
Discover where the inspiration came for Captain Hook and Never-Never Land in JM Barrie and Peter Pan (BBC2, December 23, 8.10pm).
14 days of festive television : There is nothing like a dame; Best of ENTERTAINMENT
It also examines his obsession with perpetual childhood, a Never-Never Land of children who, dying young, never grow to maturity.
PICK OF THE DAY; SUNDAY Dydd Sul
The four-part epic is set in the never-never land of Gormenghast.
LAST NIGHT'S VIEW : Horror epic is a grim fairytale
In spite of the Grand Viennese name change, the costume theme remains faithful to satirising the Ruritanian pre-WWI Middle European never-never land. This was made famous by Anthony Hope's 1894 swash-buckling adventure yarn, The Prisoner of Zenda , later becoming a 1937 Hollywood classic starring Ronald Colman.
Having a ball - why not join us?
But away from the SNP's Never-Never land, McLeish's Executive have dealt with the problems Scotland has in the real world.
RECORD VIEW: Crackdown on criminals
It is also set in never-never land, a wonderful world where trout poaching is as bad as crime gets and a brain-dead bobby like Nick Rowan (Nick Berry) can be promoted.
Collins lights up embassy; WEEKEND VIEW
The theory was that he was trying to make himself look like the young Liz Taylor, but now it seems he is aiming for a creature from Never-Never Land - the little boy who never grew up.
Patron saint of children? You've got to be kidding