idioms - Is there a word or phrase for something that one might wish exists, but most certainly doesn't?


An example might be a car that is fast, luxurious, reliable, gets great gas mileage, and is very cheap. Clearly we'd all love to own such a car, but it doesn't exist, and probably never will. There's also some naiveté in assuming it would.


Is there a metaphor, idiom, or other phrase that connotes this?


"Gee, that sounds like a wonderful car, but unfortunately, it's a _____."




UPDATE:


With regard to the proposed dupe - that question has the same accepted answer, but it's not the same question. Two different questions can have the same answer. Please let me know if you disagree.



Answer



It's just a...



pipe dream - an unattainable or fanciful hope or scheme
Example usage from oxforddictionaries:
free trade in international aviation will remain a pipe dream



Origin: Late 19th century: referring to a dream experienced when smoking an opium pipe.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

verbs - "Baby is creeping" vs. "baby is crawling" in AmE

commas - Does this sentence have too many subjunctives?

grammatical number - Use of lone apostrophe for plural?

etymology - Where does the phrase "doctored" originate?

phrases - Somebody is gonna kiss the donkey

typography - When a dagger is used to indicate a note, must it come after an asterisk?

etymology - Origin of "s--t eating grin"