pie in the sky

American  

noun

1. pie.

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pie in the sky Cultural  

1. A preposterously optimistic goal: “The candidate says we can balance the budget by next year, but I think that's pie in the sky.”

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pie in the sky Idioms  

1. An empty wish or promise, as in His dream of being hired as a sports editor proved to be pie in the sky. This expression was first recorded in 1911 in a rallying song of a union, the International Workers of the World (or “Wobblies”): “Work and pray, live on hay, you'll get pie in the sky when you die.”

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Etymology

Origin of pie in the sky

An Americanism dating back to 1910–15