Deborah Lipp

I heard this phrase on a radio ad. For, I dunno, a restaurant or club or something; “You’ll be satisfied beyond your wildest expectations.”

Sort of I feel for the copy writer. “Beyond your wildest dreams” is a cliché and it’s A Good Thing to avoid cliché. But on the other hand, no.

Dreams can be wild because they are unconnected to reality. A wild dream can involve flying over a city. A wilder dream can be flying while wearing a sparkling cape that changes color. Your wildest dream can be flying while wearing a soft, silky, massaging cape that changes color while having mid-air sex with Brad Pitt. So if someone says that they satisfy “beyond your wildest dreams” they are exceeding the limits of your implausible imagination. Possibly a naked Brad Pitt lookalike will burst out of your desert singing about flying. That would definitely exceed one’s wildest dreams.

Expectations, on the other hand, cannot be wild because they are rooted in reality. When I get into my car I expect that turning the ignition will result in the car starting. I do not expect that it will result in a passle of cute kittehs leaping out of the CD slot. I might dream that, and it would certainly be a wild dream, but I do not expect it.

So what can “beyond your wildest expectations” possibly mean? That when I turn the ignition, my car won’t just start, it’ll really, really start?

See what I mean?

Sometimes clichés serve a purpose.