This phrase turned up in a meeting some time ago but as my hands are only just starting to recover their dexterity, I've only just got around to blogging about it.
The meaning of the phrase is to imply that the person or thing referred to exists only in a realm of fantasy or in the imagination or that the person has their head in the clouds.
We were talking about local property tax ratings and land valuations in the meeting, and how they are calculated, and the presenter quoted a judge who had said the whole system existed only in cloud cuckoo land. Hence my interest.
In all fairness to the rating system, it began life in the 1600's and has grown organically ever since, so it's hardly surprising that it makes very little sense these days.
Anyway, the phrase finder has a lovely explanation of the origin of this phrase which I am going to re-post in full here as it's very clear:
Origin
It is nice for once to have a definite and unambiguous origin for an expression. Cloud-cuckoo-land was coined in Aristophanes' whimsical and extravagant play, The Birds
Chorus leader: So what name shall we give our city?
Pisthetairos: Well, do you want to use that mighty name from Lacedaimon - shall we call it Sparta?
Euelpides: By Hercules, would I use that name Sparta for my city? No. I wouldn't even try esparto grass to make my bed, not if I could use cords of linen.
Pisthetairos: All right then, what name shall we provide?
Chorus leader: Some name from around here - to do with clouds, with high places full of air, something really extra grand.
Pisthetairos: Well, then, how do you like this: Cloudcuckooland?
The play was first translated into English by the poet and translator Henry F. Cary, in 1824, which is the date of the entry of 'cloud-cuckoo-land' into the language.
So there you have it.
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