A FANTASY LAND, AN IMAGINARY PLACE, AS IN - I DON'T KNOW

WHAT'S GOTTEN INTO HER - SHE'S WAY OFF IN NEVER-NEVER LAND

THIS EXPRESSION GAINED CURRENCY WHEN JAMES BARRIE USED

IT IN PETER PAN (1904) FOR THE PLACE WHERE PETER AND THE

LOST BOYS LIVE. LATER PETER PAN RENDITIONS SHORTENED IT

TO 'NEVERLAND'. HOWEVER, IN THE SECOND HALF OF THE 1800s

AUSTRALIANS WERE ALREADY USING IT FOR THE VAST UNSETTLED AREAS

OF THE CONTINENT (THE OUTBACK), AND THERE THE TERM BECAME

POPULAR THROUGH MRS. AENEAS GUNN'S WE OF THE NEVER NEVER (1908).

IN AUSTRALIA IT STILL REFERS TO ‘THE OUTBACK’ IN GENERAL.

ELSEWHERE IT SIMPLY SIGNIFIES A FANTASY OR DAYDREAM.

A UTOPIA PROMISED IN THE PLACE OF A REAL BENEFIT.