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[00:08.00]And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.

[00:18.42]On this program, we explore words and expressions in the English language.

[00:24.71]We give examples, notes on usage, and sometimes, we use them in short conversations.

[00:33.77]Today we talk about the sweet dish at the end of a meal -- the dessert.

[00:39.53]One of the most famous kinds of dessert is pie.

[00:45.67]With a buttery crust and sweet fillings like apple, berries, or banana cream, a well-made pie is a dreamy food, indeed.

[00:58.53]And that gives us the expression pie in the sky.

[01:04.33]Imagine a perfect pie coming down to you from the sky.

[01:09.58]That is like a dream. And a pie in the sky is a dream, too.

[01:16.87]Anything described as pie-in-the-sky is fun to daydream about but is very unlikely to happen.

[01:27.12]When we act in a pie-in-the-sky manner, we are being foolishly optimistic.

[01:35.96]Any industry or area of life can have pie-in-the-sky ideas.

[01:42.87]So, you can use this expression for different situations.

[01:47.61]In business, let's say a company has lost money for two straight years.

[01:55.44]But the company chief promised increased earnings in the coming year.

[02:01.98]Her claims, as they say, were simply pie in the sky.

[02:07.09]She had no business plan or data to support them.

[02:12.48]An unpublished writer may have pie-in-the-sky dreams about her book being turned into a multi-million dollar film project.

[02:24.89]A teacher may have pie-in-the-sky wishes that all his students complete their homework on time.

[02:33.36]Pies in the sky are empty promises or empty wishes.

[02:40.28]They are wishful thinking.

[02:42.52]They are as unlikely as tasty pies falling from the sky.

[02:48.70]American English has another similar expression: pipe dream.

[02:54.98]The expression is also used to describe a plan, hope, or wish that is highly unlikely to happen.

[03:04.92]However, this expression does not come from a tasty bakery.

[03:11.94]Word experts say it started in opium dens.

[03:17.57]Here, people would smoke opium in long pipes and then fall into a dreamlike state where nothing seemed real.

[03:28.53]Now let's hear two friends using the expressions pipe dream and pie in the sky.

[03:36.68]A: Hey, did you hear about Sarah? She's moving to Spain!

[03:41.53]B: Really? Last week, she told me she was having trouble paying her rent.

[03:48.45]A: Well, she told me this morning that she's moving to Madrid to open a bakery.

[03:54.23]B: Sarah? Open a bakery? That sounds like a total pie in the sky to me. She can't even make toast.

[04:03.49]A: You know, it sounded like a pipe dream when she told me. She didn't have details. Just a lot of dreamy talk.

[04:11.81]B: Well, if she wants to turn her pie-in-the-sky bakery dream into a reality, I'd advise her to do one thing first - learn how to bake.

[04:25.66]And that's all the time we have for this Words and Their Stories. Until next time, I'm Anna Matteo.

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Words in This Story

butter -n. a solid yellow fatty food made by churning milk or cream : buttery -adj. containing or spread with butter

crust -n. the pastry shell of a pie

foolishly -adv. having or showing a lack of good sense, judgment, or discretion

optimistic -adj. feeling or showing hope for the future

bakery -n. a place where bread, cakes, and pastry are made or sold

opium -n. a bitter brownish addictive narcotic drug that consists of the dried latex obtained from immature seed capsules of the opium poppy

den -n. a dirty run-down place in which people live or gather

rent -n. money paid for the use of property : a periodic payment made by a tenant to the owner for the use of the owner's property




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