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The meaning and origin of the expression: Cloud-cuckoo-land

Cloud-cuckoo-land

What's the meaning of the phrase 'Cloud-cuckoo-land'?

A realm of fanciful or impractical, idealistic notions.

What's the origin of the phrase 'Cloud-cuckoo-land'?

Cloud cuckoo landIt is nice for once to have a definite and unambiguous origin for an expression. Cloud-cuckoo-land was coined by the 4th century BC Greek playwright Aristophanes in the whimsical and extravagant play, The Birds :

Chorus leader: So what name shall we give our city?
Pisthetairos: Well, do you want to use that mighty name from Lacedaimon - shall we call it Sparta?
Euelpides: By Hercules, would I use that name Sparta for my city? No. I wouldn't even try esparto grass to make my bed, not if I could use cords of linen.
Pisthetairos: All right then, what name shall we provide?
Chorus leader: Some name from around here - to do with clouds, with high places full of air, something really extra grand.
Pisthetairos: Well, then, how do you like this: Cloudcuckooland?

The play was first translated into English by the poet and translator Henry F. Cary, in 1824, which is the date 'cloud-cuckoo-land' entered the language.

In linguistic terms 'cloud-cuckoo-land' is something of a curiosity. Numerous expressions started life as separate words and were later hyphenated (for instance, 'cold-hearted'). Uniquely, 'cloud-cuckoo-land' started as 'cloudcuckooland' and became hyphenated later.

See also; Never-never land.

Gary Martin - the author of the phrases.org.uk website.

By Gary Martin

Gary Martin is a writer and researcher on the origins of phrases and the creator of the Phrase Finder website. Over the past 26 years more than 700 million of his pages have been downloaded by readers. He is one of the most popular and trusted sources of information on phrases and idioms.

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