never-never land

English

Proper noun

never-never land

  1. A fantastic or imaginary place.
    • 1863, George Smith with William Makepeace Thackeray, The Cornhill magazine‎[1], volume 9, page 75:
      Morocco is the never-never land of Africa. Captious readers of the war news may, in their comfortable zeal, think the term applicable to other regions of ...
    • 1991 July 29, “Enter Sandman”, Kirk Hammett, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich (music), performed by Metallica:
      Exit light / Enter night / Take my hand / We're off to never-never land

Usage notes

  • One is said to be off in never-never land when one is coming up with completely impractical ideas, distracted, etc. Going to never-never land' can also mean going to sleep, or, more darkly, dying. Compare also the never-never as a term referring to remoter parts of the Australian outback.

See also

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