Cloud cuckoo land

Was the name coined by Aristophanes in his play Birds in 414 BC In the play, two characters turn into birds and plan a city that was never constructed. The city was called Nephelokkygia from the Greek nephele meaning cloud and kokkyx meaning cuckoo. When the play was first translated into English by Henry Cary in 1824, the city became known as cloud cuckoo land although a more correct translation would be cloud cuckoo city. The expression is now used to describe someone as being in an unrealistic, fanciful state of mind. See also La la land.