17 April 2008
Port Louis — Hello; good to see you again. "What is 'cloud-cuckoo land'?" This phrase (from the Greek 'nephelokokkygia') can be traced back to 414 BC, and the play The Birds, by Aristophanes. In the play, several characters decide to build a "perfect city" in the clouds. (A perfect community is often described in writing as a 'utopia'; from the title of a book by Sir Tomas More. "Utopia" actually means "no place" or "nowhere"; the correct word to write is "eutopia", meaning "good place"). If you describe someone as living "in cloud-cuckoo land", you are expressing the opinion that they are unrealistic in their belief that everything is perfect; you are accusing them of naivety or self-delusion.
There are a number of idioms which include the word "cloud". If you are suspected of having done something bad, you could be described as being "under a cloud of suspicion". If this worries you, because you think something bad will happen, you might say that "there are dark clouds on the horizon". But do not worry; "every cloud has a silver lining" (from every difficult situation comes something positive). Some people would disagree with this overly optimistic view of life; they would say that you "have your head in the clouds" (rather than "your feet on the ground"). If things turn out well (you are found innocent) you will be extremely happy, or "on cloud nine". This expression is thought to originate in the classification of the cloud genus "cumulonimbus", which can reach higher in the sky than any other genus, thus making it cloud nine (although there are now actually ten genera of clouds).
Please send your comments, queries and questions to me - daniel.carroll@mu.britishcouncil.org or on outlook@lexpress.mu
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