Yahoo Web Search

Search results

  1. Jun 17, 2017 · The term pipe dream denotes an unattainable or fanciful hope or scheme. Of American-English origin, it originally referred to the kind of visions experienced when smoking an opium pipe. This is clear from an early instance of pipe dream in an article about Rex Felix, the carnival king at the Mardi-Gras festival, published in the San Francisco ...

  2. The phrase ‘pipe dream’ is an allusion to the dreams experienced by smokers of opium pipes. Opiates were widely used by the English literati in the 18th and 19th centuries.

  3. Jul 9, 2011 · Today I found out the origin of the phrase “pipe dream”, meaning “a fantastic hope or plan that is generally regarded as being nearly impossible to achieve.”. This phrase first popped up in the 19th century, with the earliest known documented case coming from Chicago, Illinois; specifically, coming from the December of 1890 issue of the ...

  4. The origin of "pipe dream" has to do with opium smoking and dates back to the 18th and 19th centuries. The dream-like visions or flights of fancy known to occur under the influence of opium...

  5. Some sources suggest that it may have originated in reference to opium dreams – a popular pastime among writers and artists at the time. Others speculate that it may have been inspired by actual dreams experienced by smokers who fell asleep with their pipes still lit.

  6. www.wordorigins.org › big-list-entries › pipe-dreampipe dream — Wordorigins.org

    Feb 25, 2022 · A pipe dream is an unrealizable hope or plan, a fantasy. The underlying metaphor is straightforward and, once you think about it, rather obvious. A literal pipe dream is an opium-induced hallucination.

  7. Apr 25, 2023 · Apr 25, 2023. -- A dream full of illusions such as results from the smoking of an opium pipe, which was the source of the term “Pipe Dream”. As American slang heard just about at the...

  8. People also ask

  1. People also search for