blue-sky

v. to imagine or propose unreasonable or as-yet unfeasible ideas. Subjects: English

4 Comments | Cites | Permalink | Tell a Friend

Citations: 1964 Aileen Snoddy Edwardsville Intelligencer (Illinois) (Nov. 16) “Blue Skying For the Future Home” p. 4: (title) 1975 Jack Anderson, Les Whitten The News (Frederick, Md.) (June 11) “The Washington merry-go-round” p. A4: He insisted he was merely “blue skying” the idea. He swore he had never used the report, which he had promoted while at NIAAA, to solicit loans from banks to build a private treatment center. 1982 Richard S. Rosenbloom, Alan M. Kantrow Harvard Business Review (Feb. 1) “Nurturing of Corporate Research” p. 115: They couldn’t understand why we would pour money into such “harebrained blue-skying” instead of giving it to them to design yet another model of their ill-fated line of processors. 1984 Michael Harris Globe and Mail (Toronto, Can.) (Nov. 5) “NDP’s leader knows the score in N.S. election” p. P5: At a time when North Americans are romancing the political right, however, the woman who once took Tommy Douglas sailing and grew up in a household where M. J. Coldwell was a frequent visitor is not “blue- skying” her party’s chances on election night. 2004 Paul Harris Vive le Canada (Aug. 17) “Healthcare: The truth about your government”: Can’t you just hear some government official blue-skying and saying the system would be so much more affordable if all those pesky old people would just die?

Posted 22 Sep 04 | Permalink | Tell a Friend

Reader comments:

There is a much earlier use of “blue sky” than is referred to here. Securities law has long used “blue sky” to refer to the legal regulation of worthless securities. The first state “blue sky” law was enacted in Kansas in 1911. One scholar notes that the state “blue sky” laws were to counter the issuance of fraudulent securities which had no more value than the blue sky.

by jestephens 05 Oct 04, 0709 GMT

Yes, that’s exactly right. On this site, I try to cover terms which are under- or undocumented, so, since the sense is different, I didn’t cover it here. The Oxford English Dictionary, by the way, has a cite of the securities-related blue sky to 1906.

by Grant Barrett 05 Oct 04, 0721 GMT

I would argue that your use of “blue sky” is well within the sense of the older term. Usage within securities law focused on the “worthless” nature of the securities. Your emphasis on “unreasonable” or “unfeasible” seem to be an entirely reasonable or feasible extension of the long-accepted use. Please do keep up the good work. I was pleased to learn of your web site on NPR’s Talk of the Nation program today.

by jestephens 05 Oct 04, 0731 GMT

I have traced the use of the term “blue-sky” in connection with securites to the 1890s, and have cited verifiable references in my glossary called the “GelberLaw Glossary” on my website at www.GelberLaw.net

by Lawrence R. Gelber 30 Sep 07, 0527 GMT