Jam tomorrow

Jam tomorrow

Jam tomorrow or jam to-morrow is an expression for a never-fulfilled promise. The origin is Lewis Carroll's 1871 book "Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There". The White Queen offers Alice "jam every other day" as an inducement to work for her:

The Queen's rule is a pun on the distinction between the Latin words "" and "" (sometimes written "jam"). Both mean "now", but "nunc" is only used in the present tense, while "iam" is used in the past and future tenses. (It is not clear if Carroll invented this mnemonic or was merely quoting it.)

In more recent times, the phrase has been used to describe a variety of unfulfilled political promises on issues such as tax, and was used by C. S. Lewis in satirising the extrapolation of evolution from biological theory to philosophical guiding principle, in his "hymn to evolution", based on "Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us" and set to the same tune, "Mannheim":

quotation|Lead us, Evolution, lead us
Up the future's endless stair:
Chop us, change us, prod us, weed us.
For stagnation is despair:
Groping, guessing, yet progressing,
Lead us nobody knows where.

Wrong or justice in the present,
Joy or sorrow, what are they
While there's always jam to-morrow,
While we tread the onward way?
Never knowing where we're going,
We can never go astray.

References


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • jam tomorrow — Better things promised for the future that always remain in the future • • • Main Entry: ↑jam * * * jam tomorrow british phrase something good that someone promises you but that never seems to happen The team’s supporters are tired of being… …   Useful english dictionary

  • jam tomorrow — (UK) This idiom is used when people promise good things for the future that will never come …   The small dictionary of idiomes

  • jam tomorrow — noun Promised benefits that never arrive. Yet theyve proved that common men can show astonishing fortitude in chasing jam tomorrow …   Wiktionary

  • jam tomorrow — British something that you want which you are told you will get soon but which never appears. Nobody will accept a pay cut, and it s not enough to promise jam tomorrow …   New idioms dictionary

  • jam tomorrow — British something good that someone promises you but that never seems to happen The team s supporters are tired of being promised jam tomorrow …   English dictionary

  • jam tomorrow and jam yesterday, but never jam today — 1871 ‘L. CARROLL’ Through Looking Glass V. ‘The rule is, jam to morrow and jam yesterday but never jam to day.’ ‘It must come sometimes to “jam to day”,’ Alice objected. ‘No, it can’t,’ said the Queen. 1951 ‘J. WYNDHAM’ Day of Triffids xii. Just… …   Proverbs new dictionary

  • jam tomorrow — Meaning A promise which is never likely to be kept. Origin From Lewis Carroll s Though the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There, in which Alice is offered Jam to morrow and jam yesterday but never jam today . Socialist circles often used to… …   Meaning and origin of phrases

  • jam tomorrow — a desirable thing that is promised but rarely materializes. [phr. from Lewis Carroll s Through the Looking Glass (1871).] → jam something on …   English new terms dictionary

  • jam tomorrow — (UK)    This idiom is used when people promise good things for the future that will never come.   (Dorking School Dictionary) …   English Idioms & idiomatic expressions

  • jam tomorrow —  Well being deferred (usu. indefinitely) …   A concise dictionary of English slang

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