Word of the Day

: March 23, 2018

never-never land

noun nev-er-NEV-er-LAND

What It Means

: an ideal or imaginary place

never-never land in Context

Lester seems to think he lives in some kind of never-never land where people don't have to accept responsibility for their actions.

"However, notwithstanding the tsunami of interest, cryptocurrencies as money still operate in kind of a never-never land." — Eric Grover, American Banker, 16 Aug. 2017

Did You Know?

The phrase never-never land is linked to Peter Pan, although it did not originate with that creation of the Scottish playwright Sir James Matthew Barrie. In Barrie's original 1904 play, Peter befriends the real-world children of the Darling family and spirits them off for a visit to Never Land, where children can fly and never have to become adults. Then, in his 1908 sequel When Wendy Grew Up, Barrie changed the name to Never Never Land, and subsequent versions of the earlier play incorporated that change. People had been using never-never land for a place that was overly idealistic or romantic since at least 1900, but the influence of Peter Pan on the word's popularity and staying power cannot be discounted.