成语来源】

castles in the air

空中楼阁

A rich man asked an architect¹ to build a three-story house for him.

有一个富人让一位建筑师为他建造一个三层楼的房子。

When the first story was finished, the rich man said to the architect: "I want only the third story; not the first and second stories."

当第一层建造好的时候，富人对建筑师说：“我只想要第三层楼，不要第一、第二层。”

The architect asked, "But without the first and second stories, how can I build the third story?"

建筑师说：“但没有第一、第二层，何来第三层呢？”

Shaking his head, he packed up his things, and left.

建筑师于是就摇了摇头，收拾东西离开了。

This idiom indicates an unrealistic or impractical² plan or theory.

这个成语现在比喻不现实或者不可行的计划或者理论等。

文化链接】

英文中“空中楼阁”可以说成“castles in the air”，基本就是直译了，所以不难理解哦~

英文解释是“plans or hopes that have very little chance of happening”，也就是指“发生机会微乎其微的计划或者希望”。

我们来一起看几个例句吧~

She tells me she's planned out her whole career, but as far as I can see it's all just castles in the air.

她告诉我她已经有了整个职业计划，但是就我看来其实只是“空中楼阁”而已。

Before you start building castles in the air, just think how much all this is likely to cost.

在你开始建立“空中楼阁”之前，不如先想想你需要付出多少代价。