Last week was very hot in Boston, and some of us were wishing that we could be somewhere that was cooler, such as Alaska. At the same time, it is possible that in cool Alaska, people were wishing that they were somewhere warmer, such as Boston.
It is simply human nature, from time to time, to think that what we don’t have is better than what we do have. As a result, we fly to Alaska (because we believe that Alaska must be more comfortable than Boston), and Alaskans fly to Boston (because they believe that Boston is more comfortable than Alaska). In other words, we all believe that “the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.”
This idiom comes from the idea of two neighbors looking over the fence at each other’s property and believing that the other person’s grass is greener (better) than his own.
The NESE Grammar Team
