ask for the moon

1. Make an unreasonable demand, request the unattainable, as in $1,000 for her birthday? Mary might as well be asking for the moon. This hyperbolic idiom appeared in the mid-1800s in slightly different form. Charles Dickens had it as cry for the moon (in Bleak House, 1852) and William Makepeace Thackeray as wish for the moon (in Lovell the Widower, 1860). Today ask is the most common version.

Example Sentences

“Edison is going to ask for the moon, and we’re going to say, ‘no, dial it back.’”

From Los Angeles Times

"I know we can't ask for the moon," said Representative Don Bacon, a moderate Republican whose Nebraska district Biden won by 6 percentage points in 2020.

From Reuters

Ask for the moon and negotiate until it’s a win-win.

From Washington Post

“If I were Zelensky, I would ask for the moon. But it’s up to us to decide what is in our national security interest.”

From Washington Post

She did ask for the moon, very nearly.

From Literature