Jam tomorrow (or the older spelling jam to-morrow) is an expression for a never-fulfilled promise, or for some pleasant event in the future, which is never likely to materialize. Originating from a bit of wordplay involving Lewis Carroll's Alice, it has been referenced in discussions of philosophy, economics, and politics.

Origin

The expression originates from Lewis Carroll's 1871 book '' Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There''. This is a pun on a mnemonic for the usage of the Latin word ''iam'' (formerly often written and pronounced ''jam''), which means "at this time", but only in the future or past tense, not in the present (which is instead ''nunc'' "now"). In the book, the White Queen offers Alice "

jam Jam is a type of fruit preserve. Jam or Jammed may also refer to: Other common meanings * A firearm malfunction * Block signals ** Radio jamming ** Radar jamming and deception ** Mobile phone jammer ** Echolocation jamming Arts and entertai ...

every other day" as an inducement to work for her:

"I'm sure I'll take you with pleasure!" the Queen said. "Two pence a week, and jam every other day."
Alice couldn't help laughing, as she said, "I don't want you to hire ''me'' – and I don't care for jam."
"It's very good jam," said the Queen.
"Well, I don't want any ''to-day'', at any rate."
"You couldn't have it if you ''did'' want it," the Queen said. "The rule is, jam to-morrow and jam yesterday – but never jam to-day."
"It ''must'' come sometimes to 'jam to-day'," Alice objected.
"No, it can't," said the Queen. "It's jam every ''other'' day: to-day isn't any ''other'' day, you know."
"I don't understand you," said Alice. "It's dreadfully confusing!"

The passage inspired the title of the 1979 musical ''

But Never Jam Today ''But Never Jam Today'' was a 1979 musical with music by Bert Keyes and Bob Larimer, lyrics by Larimer, and a book by both Larimer and Vinnette Carroll. The musical is based on the works of Lewis Carroll, and takes its title from the " jam tomorr ...

''.

Usage

In more recent times, the phrase has been used to describe a variety of unfulfilled

political Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

promises on issues such as

tax A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...

, and was used by

C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Oxford University (Magdalen College, 1925–1954) and Cambridge Univers ...

in satirizing the extrapolation of

evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

from biological theory to philosophical guiding principle, in his 1957 poem "Evolutionary Hymn":The Lewis poem is based on "Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us" (by

James Edmeston James Edmeston (10 September 1791 – 7 January 1867) was an England, English architect and Surveyor (surveying), surveyor; he was also known as a prolific writer of Christian Church, church hymns. He was born in Wapping, Middlesex, England. Hi ...

) and similarly set to the hymnal tune "Mannheim" (by

Friedrich Filitz Friedrich Filitz (16 March 1804 – 8 December 1876) was a German composer and musicologist who collected church music from the 16th and 17th centuries. Biography Filitz was born in Arnstadt, County of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, in 1804. He receive ...

) Monica Redlich's 1937 novel, for children and young adults, and older, uses the Carrollian phrase as its title, "Jam Tomorrow". In the novel, it is the family motto of the children of an impoverished vicar. This is not their only quotation from Lewis Carroll, but it reflects their stoic acceptance of straitened means today, and an unquenched hope for better things in some unforeseen tomorrow.

John Maynard Keynes John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes, ( ; 5 June 1883 – 21 April 1946), was an English economist whose ideas fundamentally changed the theory and practice of macroeconomics and the economic policies of governments. Originally trained in ...

also makes use of the image of "never jam today" in order to portray vividly the tendency to excessive saving which may lead to economic stagnation: British folk musician

Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. His music is ...

uses it in his 1986 song "The Home Front":

References

{{reflist Lewis Carroll 1870s neologisms