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- The expression took off in late 19th century in American English in cities where opium dens were appearing, especially Chicago. Chicago newspapers began using the term more generally to mean something unrealistic or fantastic; something you hope for but don't think would actually occur.
www.kuow.org/stories/ben-zimmer-roots-pipe-dreams/KUOW - Ben Zimmer: The Roots Of "Pipe Dreams" - KUOW Public Radio
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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.
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 ...
Smoking opium through a pipe could induce vivid dreams and hallucinations, leading to the term “pipe dream.” Another theory suggests that it comes from the practice of sailors smoking tobacco pipes while daydreaming during long voyages at sea.
Jul 9, 2011 · “Operation Pipe Dreams” was a 2003 nationwide United States investigation which targeted business selling drug paraphernalia. In the end, hundreds of businesses and homes were raided nationwide.
A pipe dream is an unattainable hope or fantasy and is first cited in America from the late 19th century. The allusion is to the delusions or euphoria induced by smoking an opium pipe.
Jun 26, 2023 · The term "pipe dream" was first recorded in the early 19th century and is believed to have originated from the practice of smoking opium in pipes, which could induce vivid and unrealistic visions or dreams.
Feb 25, 2022 · A literal pipe dream is an opium-induced hallucination. The phrase is an Americanism that first appears in print on 11 December 1890, but co-locations of the two words can be found earlier describing literal opium-induced hallucinations.
