eggs in moonshine
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Probably from the name of a dish, referred to in 16th- and 17th-century English cookbooks, made of egg yolks lightly poached in sweetened rosewater. See also moonshine, culinary sense (US). [1]
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]eggs in moonshine (uncountable)
- (idiomatic) A fanciful notion; an unrealistic or ludicrous concept.
- 1593, Gabriel Harvey, Pierce's Supererogation, or, A New Praise of the Old Ass[2]:
- You may discourse of Hermes' ascending spirit, of Orpheus' enchanting harp, of Homer's divine fury, of Tyrtaeus' enraging trumpet, of Pericles' bouncing thunderclaps, of Plato's enthusiastical ravishment, and I wot not what marvellous eggs in moonshine: but a fly for all your flying speculations when one good-fellow with his odd jests, or one mad knave with his awk hibber-gibber, is able to put down twenty of your smuggest artificial men, that simper it so nicely and coyly in their curious points.
- 1951, C. S. Lewis, chapter 7, in Prince Caspian, Collins, published 1998:
- […] your Majesty knows I think the Horn—and that bit of broken stone over there—and your great King Peter—and your Lion Aslan—are all eggs in moonshine.