In the article “Dreams Come True” in Issue No. 27 of Word Power, we talked about idioms and phrases with the word “dream”. Let’s pick up where we left off and look at other such expressions.

As an adjective, “dream” means ideal or perfect. Phrases such as “dream home” are obvious in meaning, but others are less so. A dream ticket describes an ideal list of candidates in an election, but it can also be used outside of politics to talk about any ideal combination. A dream factory does not mean an ideal factory; it refers to a manufacturer of idealised concepts, especially a film studio or the film industry at large.

While it is good to dream big and aspire to higher goals, of equal importance is putting your dreams into action. Some people may simply dream away their days, which means wasting time by fantasising about making grand achievements without putting in any real efforts: Instead of dreaming your life away, why not work harder to reach your goals? Dream up refers to conceiving a plan or an idea, particularly one that is unusual, impractical or perhaps even a little silly: This plan simply doesn’t work. Was it dreamed up by a layman? Note that both phrasal verbs are transitive, so a direct object is required.

In spoken English, someone may say dream on if you suggest an impractical idea or hope for something unlikely to happen: Did you just say you aim to run 100 metres in eight seconds? Dream on! A similar colloquial expression is in your dreams, which means “not probable” or “not a chance”.

Although the phrase “pipe dream” originally referred to hallucinations from smoking a pipe of opium, it has long been used in a more general sense without the connotation of drug-taking. Today, a pipe dream means a vain hope or an unrealistic plan: At one time winning Olympic medals was a pipe dream for Hong Kong, but it became a reality in 1996.

Olympic medal winners are certainly living the dream, which means they are having the kind of life that they have always wanted. However, this expression is often used ironically to mean the opposite. If you ask a friend, “How are you doing?” and he replies, “Living the dream,” do pay attention to the tone of his voice before deciding whether you should feel happy or sorry for him.

Life is full of broken dreams and there is no shortcut to success. Yet, with grit and determination like Olympians, we might perhaps be one small step closer to living the dream—no sarcasm intended.