Idiom of the Day - Pie in the Sky

 

 

You’ve come up with what you think is a great idea or plan. It could be anything, but let’s imagine you are at work, and after your presentation, you are given a note that the boss wants to see you. As you head to his office, you think that it must be good news. 

A positive response.

A few minutes later, you receive the most sceptical or derisive response imaginable.

“It was fine, but don’t you think that it was, a little, pie in the sky?”

To let you down gently, the boss might suggest that while it sounds appealing, your plan rests on unrealistic assumptions or unlikely future events.

Or, you are a writer that has just spent six months writing a book, only to be told it is unrealistic, “pie in the sky”. I think most publishers would probably let down the writer more gently than that.

Origins and History

“Pie in the sky” is an English idiom meaning a promise of good things that are unlikely to be realised.

It can be traced back to the early 20th century when the US labourer, activist, and writer Joe Hill wrote the song “The Preacher and the Slave” (1911). It was a parody of the hymn “In the Sweet By-and-By” and was meant as a criticism of religious leaders who encouraged workers to accept suffering now for heavenly rewards later.

The song included the lines:

“But there’ll be pie in the sky by and by when I die…”

Hill’s use linked the idea of a comforting but empty promise, that of spiritual consolation for material hardship, to the phrase “pie in the sky”.

From there, the expression entered broader political and everyday speech in both the U.S.A. and Britain. Critics of ungrounded reform proposals, utopian schemes, or empty political rhetoric would use it to show that proposals or plans seemed far-fetched.

Over the 20th century the phrase became a more general idiom for any impractical promise.

It could be used to critique plans. “Their budget relies on pie-in-the-sky revenue projections.” Or to put down a proposal. “A pie-in-the-sky energy plan won’t solve short-term shortages or prices going up.” And how often have we heard, “Voters were warned not to fall for pie-in-the-sky campaign pledges”?

Contemporary Usage

Today “pie in the sky” still appears in everyday spoken English and is regularly used to express scepticism. It can be well-intentioned but also a putdown of impractical ideas and promises that mislead. Because it carries a dismissive side to it, it can undercut someone’s credibility. I knew that because my mother would occasionally let me down gently by reminding me that I was talking “pie in the sky”.

I suppose it was better than being told I was talking “rubbish”.

It was even used as the name of a BBC detective series starring Richard Griffiths and Maggie Stead. The rotund Griffiths plays a police detective who takes on various cases while running a restaurant called Pie in the Sky.

Why the Phrase Endures

I suppose as a gentle putdown, it works!

In a modern context, “pie in the sky” remains a handy idiom for calling out something that may sound attractive but is very unlikely to happen. And if it were tried and failed, it would probably result in the use of another well-known idiom/phrase.

“I told you so.”