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Pie in the sky
Definitions
- 1 Alternative form of pie-in-the-sky. alt-of, alternative
"After listening to descriptions of local grants between $500 and $50,000 (Montana got a total of $593,691 this year), he said the comparatively small contribution from the endowment could be replaced by a national organization that is privately run. His local critics questioned how that would work, and Jane Alexander, chairwoman of the endowment, scoffed at the idea. I think it's very pie in the sky, she said in a telephone interview."
- 1 A fanciful notion; an unrealistic or ludicrous concept; the illusory promise of a desired outcome that is unlikely to happen. idiomatic, uncountable
"Don't you think I have anything better to do than go scrambling around hundreds of square miles of the toughest wilderness in the state looking for pie in the sky?"
Etymology
The phrase is originally from the song “The Preacher and the Slave” (1911) by Swedish-American labor activist and songwriter Joe Hill (1879–1915), which he wrote as a parody of the Salvation Army hymn “In the Sweet By-and-By” (published 1868). The song criticizes the Salvation Army for focusing on people’s salvation rather than on their material needs: : You will eat, bye and bye, : In that glorious land above the sky; : Work and pray, live on hay, : You’ll get pie in the sky when you die.
The phrase is originally from the song “The Preacher and the Slave” (1911) by Swedish-American labor activist and songwriter Joe Hill (1879–1915), which he wrote as a parody of the Salvation Army hymn “In the Sweet By-and-By” (published 1868). The song criticizes the Salvation Army for focusing on people’s salvation rather than on their material needs: : You will eat, bye and bye, : In that glorious land above the sky; : Work and pray, live on hay, : You’ll get pie in the sky when you die.
See also for "pie in the sky"
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