Milchmaedchenrechnung

A "Milchmaedchenrechnung," or milk maid's account, doesn't add up -- it's not enough to pay the bill. As so often in German, the term goes back to a bygone century. One possible source is an 18th century fable entitled, appropriately, "The Milk Maid." Here, a farmer's wife goes to market to sell her milk and, along the way, she starts thinking about how she'll spend the money she expects to earn -- until she gets distracted by her own imagination and spills the milk. So much for the expensive dreams…