Blue Sky Thinking

Type "blue sky thinking" into Google and you're off. Well, I am anyway. And the first thing you notice is Wiktionary's entry that give us two definitions of the phrase. One is "thinking that is not grounded or in touch with the realities of the present" (tick!); the other is "open-minded thinking" (tick!). The latter is the one most of us mean, I think, when we say "blue sky thinking", if we ever say it, that is, because there's always a risk that someone will kill you if you do say it, it being such a giant cliché and all.

Collins give us just one definition: "creative ideas that are not limited by current thinking or beliefs." (tick!).

But Urban Dictionary contains my favourite definition: "creative thinking or planning far into the future which may or may not materialise." (tick!) Which may or may not materialise. That's the thing that needs to change. With my thinking, anyway. Which probably means I need to do less blue sky thinking and more joined-up thinking. Or more cloudy day thinking. Or maybe even more Cloudy Bay drinking.

(Weirdly, an article in the Daily Express explains neatly and succinctly where the phrase comes from: "a blue sky is one with no opaque objects such as clouds in it so blue-sky thinking must be empty thinking unsullied by any ideas at all.")