pie in the sky | Idiomator

Meaning: (idiomatic)Afancifulnotion; anunrealisticorludicrousconcept; theillusorypromiseof adesiredoutcomethat isunlikelyto happen.1950,Anya Seton[pseudonym; Anya Seton Chase],Foxfire, Boston, Mass.:Houghton Mifflin; republished Boston, Mass.:Mariner Books,2015,→ISBN,page124: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 forpie in the sky?1970, John Lennon, “I Found Out”, inJohn Lennon / Plastic Ono Band:Old Hare Krishna got nothing on you / Just keep you crazy with nothing to do / Keep you occupied withpie in the sky1994,Alfred W. Crosby[, Jr.], “Demography, Maize, Land, and the American Character”, inGerms, Seeds & Animals: Studies in Ecological History(Sources and Studies in World History), Armonk, N.Y.; London:M. E. Sharpe,→ISBN,page167:[M]ost Americans are chronically materialistic and optimistic, more interested in short-range than long-range prospects, and have been for many generations. Pie on the table today or, at the latest, tomorrow—apple pie, mince pie, pecan pie, apricot pie, coconut cream pie, lemon meringue pie, peach cobbler pie, blueberry, blackberry, huckleberry, and pizza pie—that is what they want, not "pie in the sky," whether the source of that promise be Christianity or Marxism.2015, Sophie Hudson, “The Brat Pack Movies Didn’t Really Cover this Part”, inHome is Where My People Are: The Roads that Lead Us to Where We Belong, Carol Stream, Ill.:Tyndale House Publishers,→ISBN,page117:[…]I grew in the House Full of Practical People, so any grand, dream-chasing pursuit has always struck me as sort ofpie in the sky.2020December 2, Christian Wolmar, “Wales offers us a glimpse of an integrated transport policy”, inRail, page57:Ah, I can hear the objectors say, all this ispie in the skyand too expensive. In fact, according to Lord Burns, "this is all perfectly feasible at a reasonable cost".

Examples:

EN: You'll get pie in the sky
ES: Tendrá pastel en el cielo
ES: Tendrá pastel en el cielo
ES: Tendrá pastel en el cielo
EN: You'll get pie in the sky When you die, die, die
ES: Tendrá pastel en el cielo Cuando muera, muera, muera
ES: Tendrá pastel en el cielo Cuando muera, muera, muera
EN: No checks, no promissory notes no pie in the sky.
ES: Nada de cheques, ni pagares, ni ilusiones.
EN: I know the swami saw a pie in the sky, chief but your plan is ridiculous.
ES: Ya sé que el erudito vio una tarta en el cielo, jefe pero tu plan es ridículo.
EN: I said, "pie in the sky."
ES: ¡Y qué más!
EN: Perhaps a better life, Father, not a pie in the sky.
ES: Quizás una vida mejor, padre, no una esperanza de recompensa en el cielo.
EN: And that's why Attardi's porno-watching days are over and Cocchi either goes to Calabria... or the big pie in the sky.
ES: Por ello las sesiones de porno de Attardi han acabado. En cuanto a Cocchi, puede escoger entre la Calabria y un billete sencillo al Cielo.
EN: You're gonna eat by and by when you learn how to cook and to fry chop some wood, it'll do you good there'll be pie in the sky when you die that's a lie!
ES: Un día comerás, cuando aprendas a cocinar. Te vendrá bien cortar leña, cuando mueras comerás pasteles en el Cielo. Vaya mentira.
EN: You will eat by and by in that glorious land above the sky work and pray, live on hay there'll be pie in the sky when you die that's a dirty lie!
ES: Un día comerás, en el paraíso que está en el Cielo. Trabaja y reza, duerme sobre el heno, cuando mueras comerás pasteles en el Cielo. ¡Vaya mentira!
EN: Paulette, all that religious is - a bunch of crap for the people waiting for the big pie in the sky, a bunch of losers.
ES: Paulette, toda esa religión es- un montón de basura para que la gente que espera el gran pastel en el cielo - un puñado de perdedores.
EN: They don't want pie in the sky, they don't want fairytales.
ES: No quiere promesas vanas ni cuentos de hadas.
EN: But all this is pie in the sky.
ES: Pero todo esto es una suposición.
EN: Now to our own pie in the sky-- Bill Pie in the KBBL trafficcopter.
ES: Ahora, el helicóptero de KBBL y el reportero aéreo Bill Pie.
EN: Oh. - This is Bill Pie, your pie in the sky, saying good-bye.
ES: Soy Bill Pie, el reportero aéreo, que ya se despide.
EN: But of course with this gammy leg of mine, that'll be pie in the sky
ES: Pero, por supuesto, con esta pierna lisiada, son castillos en el aire.

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