Another mention in Chicago in September 1895 shows the true origin of the phrase in terms of meaning, namely in reference to dreams lived while smoking opium. This September 1895 reference comes from the Fort Wayne Gazette: “Pipe dream”. Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pipe%20dream. Retrieved 9 December 2022. “It [air navigation] has been considered a pipe dream for many years.” I fall back into a dream and then suddenly there is a knock on the window just above my bed. I live in Chatsworth, about five blocks from the PipeDreams company. Now I know what that means. Thank you very much. “Pipe Dream” was not known in England until a few years later and it is likely that it was introduced there by the American writer Bettina von Hutten, who settled in London. In her 1904 novel Pam, she includes the phrase: You might be convinced that one day you`ll buy a private island and turn it into a cat sanctuary, but your parents will probably call it a chimera or an unrealistic, wild plan.

An illusory dream is an unrealistic and unattainable goal, an impossible hope. The pipe referred to in this term is a smoking pipe, but the substance that is smoked is not tobacco. The pipe dream originated in the practice of opium use, and although many English writers have turned to opiates for inspiration, the term pipe dream originated in the United States. From the mid-1800s to the late 1800s, the western United States was full of opium dens, places where opium from China was sold and smoked. A large influx of opium came from China with the California Gold Rush of 1850. The experience of smoking opium caused hallucinations in the user. At that time, these hallucinations were called opium dreams, chimerical opium dreams or fantasies. In the 1870s, the term fantasy was used to describe hallucinations a person experienced under the influence of opium. In the 1890s, the term chimera was used figuratively to describe an impossible hope or ambition. Originally, Pipe Dream was rendered with a hyphen, as in Pipe-Dream.

Today, the Oxford English Dictionary lists Pipe Dream as two separate words. The plural form of Pipe Dream is Pipe Dreams. Opium dens were banned in San Francisco in 1875. New York`s last known opium den was closed in a raid in 1957. The idea of using a spacecraft to travel from one point on Earth`s surface to another has been around since at least the 1960s, but the cost and complexity of the idea meant it was little more than a pipe dream. Tressan had never dreamed of the barrel of gunpowder to which he applied the match of his smug politeness. [The play describes an incredible story, apparently believed by the journalist, of a mystical event in which one man predicts in detail the suicide of another man. One wonders what the journalist smoked] Add Pipe Dream to one of your lists below or create a new one. So where are the millions of Palestinians – like my relatives – who dream of self-determination and a sovereign state? The expression “pipe dream” is an allusion to the dreams of opium pipe smokers. “There are things that happen every day in Chicago that are without rational explanation, like the mysterious fingerprints of the writer`s brain.

Newspaper people hear about it, but in the race for cold and hard facts, “pipe stories,” as strange and inexplicable stories are called, are discarded. Had this not been the case, the following incident, which can be verified by the words of several respected men, would long ago have received the space and attention it deserves, rather than being thrown in the trash as the “chimera” of an opium adept. She would never forget it; But when she realized its gravity, she decided not to tell it – the dream – to anyone. In the latest episode of our Confessions series, in which we exchange anonymity for honesty, the CEO of a global media holding group explains why fair compensation remains a pipe dream for many contemporaries. It is therefore strange that “Pipe Dream” does not come from any of these sources, but has an American origin. The first references to the phrase are all from Chicago or the surrounding area. The oldest I found is from the Chicago Daily Tribune, December 1890: Subscribe to America`s largest dictionary and get thousands of other definitions and an advanced search – ad-free! An artificial island in Gaza is an impassable chimera (The Jerusalem Post) This phrase first appeared in the 19th century, with the oldest known documented case originating from Chicago, Illinois; Specifically, in the December 1890 issue of the Chicago Daily Tribune, in this case in reference to aviation: “This was considered a pipe dream for many years.” NEEDTOBREATHE`s sixth album would have seemed like a pipe dream just a few years ago. (The Star of INdianapolis) A fantastic performance or a vain hope, as in I wish I had a house in the mountains and another on the coast, but that`s just a pipe dream.