whistle past the graveyard

American  

[wis-uhl past thuh greyv-yahrd, hwis-] / ˈwɪs əl ˌpæst ðə ˈgreɪvˌyɑrd, ˈʰwɪs- /

idiom

1. to pretend to be calm, cheerful, and confident in an effort to reassure oneself or others; deny or ignore a threat or problem.

   I'm holding out hope that we can win this lawsuit, but I might be just whistling past the graveyard.

   The CEO’s press release reads like a hasty attempt to soothe nervous shareholders, combined with a hint of whistling past the graveyard.

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Example Sentences

Of course, but the notion of the natural world crumbling while humans whistle past the graveyard is nothing new, given the recent deluge of very good dystopian fiction that has been published in recent years.

From Los Angeles Times • May 11, 2023

Carnival—Latin for “farewell to flesh”—has always been an occasion to whistle past the graveyard.

From Slate • Apr. 2, 2020

It's more common for players to whistle past the graveyard; careers are short, jobs are tenuous, money is fleeting.

From Slate • Oct. 18, 2012

“We have to watch this, and I don’t want to get ourselves in a position of where we whistle past the graveyard and find ourselves in a hole,” Kasich said from Columbus.

From BusinessWeek • Aug. 4, 2011