APAD: La-la land

7
7grizzly
楼主 (文学城)

Meaning:

   A notional place characterized by fantasy, self-absorption and blissful lack

   of touch with reality.

 

Background:

   `La-la land' isn't listed on maps, but the label does refer to a real place,

   that is, Los Angeles, which is of course widely referred to as L.A. The

   expression has taken on a meaning built partly from the place name and partly

   from the supposed frivolous and eccentric behaviour of the city's movie

   community.

 

   The term began to be used by the general public around the late 1970s and

   both of the above sources of the expression are found in print in 1979:

 

     Washington Post, 4th February - "Monday night in Lalaland is not like

     Monday night in, say, Washington."

 

     Los Angeles Times, 28th July - "Heather was in la-la land after drinking

     the LSD-spiked iced tea intended for Diana."

 

   Another link between the phrase and Los Angeles was the 1984 film Beverly

   Hills Cop. In a scene where Eddie Murphy's lead character Axel Foley was

   being criticised by fellow cop Jeffrey Friedman, Foley stuck his fingers in

   his ears and sang "la la la" to drown out the reproach:

 

     Foley: I am not listening to you.

     Jeffrey: Great. Real mature.

     Foley: I am not listening to Jeffrey, but he's still talking.

 

   That gesture became something of a clich amongst Hollywood types for a few

   years.

 

   Despite all the associations of `la-la land' with late 20th century Los

   Angeles, the earliest use of the expression in print is from long ago and far

   away. A heading in the Los Angeles Times in January 1925 ran:

 

     Miniature motor cars developed by French engineers amaze American

     government. Commerce Department motor head home again; describes one-man

     taxis in `La-La Land'.

 

   Presumably, the author had in mind the phrase `ooh-la-la', which was in vogue

   as a recent import from France into the USA in 1925, when that early form of

   `La-la land' was coined. The phrase never caught on with that meaning,

   although it might have come in handy as an alternative to the "cheese-eating

   surrender monkeys" line that the The Simpsons' writer Ken Keeler used to

   articulate the USA's prevailing anti-French sentiment in 1995.

 

- www.phrases.org.uk [edited]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

I was still thinking of tomorrow's snowstorm on the Canadian Prairies when, a

few hours later, the plane began its descent to San Diego Int'l Airport. In the

dead of So Cal winter, the day was bright and the air balmy, sandstone-faced

apartments stood under roofs of red Spanish clay tiles, varicolored bird of

paradise accented manicured landscapes with sparkling outdoor swimming pools and

gurgling jacuzzis, and giant palms and eucalyptuses beckoned in gentle breeze.

La Jolla was clean, beautiful, and well, artificial. For the first few months, I

went to work every morning feeling unreal and wondering how I ended up in this

la-la land.

最西边的岛上
can't help smiling 2 the title ;-)) & that was exactly how
最西边的岛上
I felt when landed in Victoria in a Feb day from Wyoming ;-)
7
7grizzly
It was so perfect that I soon started to miss the snow:-)
最西边的岛上
don't ;-). I shoveled enough in Ottawa, glad 2 b back 2 Vic!
暖冬cool夏
Beautiful description! Beginning of a memoir:)Never knew la-
7
7grizzly
Exercise is good for you. Snow is 善人之宝,不善人之所保:-)
暖冬cool夏
here is LA:) There's a movie called La La Land:) gurgling-好词
7
7grizzly
Thank you, 暖冬! I didn't know either. Isn't it fun learning?
最西边的岛上
learning & having fun, that's what we r here 4!!!
最西边的岛上
嗯 :-)“不曰:求以得,有罪以免邪?”
妖妖灵
世外桃源
7
7grizzly
Sort of but la la land 感觉是钱堆起来的 and more material.
妖妖灵
Legoland:)