Phrase guide

jam tomorrow

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

Promised benefits that never arrive.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The availability of a resource at a future date.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: broadly, idiomatic, uncountable

Topics: economics, sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass (1871), where Alice is offered “jam to-morrow and jam yesterday — but never jam to-day”. This is a pun on a mnemonic for the usage of jam, iam in Latin (note i/j conflation in Latin spelling), which means “now”, but only in the future or past tense, not in the present (which is instead nunc).

Across languages

Translations

3 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Greek: λαγοί με πετραχήλια (lagoí me petrachília) — promised benefits that never arrive
  • Polish: obietnica bez pokrycia — promised benefits that never arrive
  • Russian: жура́вль в не́бе (žurávlʹ v nébe) — promised benefits that never arrive