promise the moon


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promise (one) the moon

To promise one something that cannot be done. Your clients will come to distrust you if you keep promising them the moon.
See also: moon, promise

promise the moon (to someone)

 and promise someone the moon
to make extravagant promises to someone. Bill will promise you the moon, but he won't live up to his promises. My boss promised the moon, but never gave me a raise.
See also: moon, promise

promise the moon

If someone promises the moon, they promise to do or give things that they cannot in fact give. Politicians promise the moon at election time, but do they deliver once they're elected?
See also: moon, promise

promise (somebody) the ˈmoon/ˈearth/ˈworld

(informal) make very big or impossible promises that you are unlikely to keep: He promised her the moon, but after ten years of marriage they hardly had enough to live on.
See also: earth, moon, promise, world
References in periodicals archive ?
Bush likes to promise the moon, as he did when he pledged to eradicate global terrorism.
Bush's growth spurt: George W. has found his presidential authority and voice since September 11th
A lesson for all is to know if your product is truly suited to the industry and client it is supposed to serve before you promise the moon.
Food Manufacturers Prove to Be Shy Buy
In an age when most musicals promise the moon -- or at least an airborne helicopter -- it's refreshing to see a show with as few pretensions as Tommy Tune and Sandy Duncan's "Two for the Show.
TWO FOR THE SHOW
They can promise the moon, but Joe Sixpack is not going to believe they can deliver the moon.
Boardroom view
So were the ads, which seemed to promise the moon, and the trainers, who explained things in a language that only computer jocks could understand.
'We kicked! We screamed! We dragged our feet!' (instituting desktop publishing in business)
Candidates promise the moon to get elected, and by the time people find out it cannot be done, it is too late.
Presidentiables sans the spin (2)
In less than two years, Rajiv was saddled with the Bofors scandal and an in-house messiah, who left Congress to promise the moon to the electorate.
Let's Have Renunciation II!
If you promise the moon (here, have a Chinook) and it arrives after the party is over, do you have any plan for what you're going to do with it?
Pistol Pete to the rescue
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