he is always indulging in crazy dreams

[alpacinou]

Hello,

I want to suggest a person is not realistic. Can I use "indulge in fantasy/dream" like this? Is this okay?

He is not a sensible person. He is always wasting his time indulging in some crazy unobtainable fantasies.

By the way, what is an adjective for a person who is always fantasizing like that?

 

[jutfrank]

Is he only fantasising or is he acting on his fantasies in any way? If the former, I don't think indulging is quite right.

 

[alpacinou]

Is he only fantasising or is he acting on his fantasies in any way? If the former, I don't think indulging is quite right.

You mean "indulge in a fantasy" is only used when someone "takes action"?

I found this example in a book:

https://books.google.at/books?id=Y4...ld find himself indulging in fantasy"&f=false

Sometimes he would find himself indulging in fantasy, would picture them together in London in his new flat.

I thought it meant he dreamed and fantasized about the two of them being together.

 

[jutfrank]

The example from the book is fine for me. I think there's a difference here between fantasy (uncountable) and a fantasy (countable).

 

[alpacinou]

The example from the book is fine for me. I think there's a difference here between fantasy (uncountable) and a fantasy (countable).

How can I fix this to mean he is merely dreaming and not acting?

He is not a sensible person. He is always wasting his time indulging in some crazy unobtainable fantasies.

Is this better?

He is not a sensible person. He is always wasting his time indulging in fantasy.

 

[Rover_KE]

He's a Walter Mitty. [link]

 

[alpacinou]

I found this in goolge:

The American Heritage Dictionary defines a Walter Mitty as "an ordinary often ineffectual person who indulges in fantastic daydreams of personal triumphs".

Does this mean that person acts? Or is the focus on dreaming?

 

[jutfrank]

How can I fix this to mean he is merely dreaming and not acting?

He is not a sensible person. He is always wasting his time indulging in some crazy unobtainable fantasies.

Is this better?

He is not a sensible person. He is always wasting his time indulging in fantasy.

The first one certainly doesn't work. The second version is okay, in my opinion. However, the second sentence doesn't really follow from the first. Fantasiing doesn't mean not being sensible.

 

[alpacinou]

The first one certainly doesn't work. The second version is okay, in my opinion. However, the second sentence doesn't really follow from the first. Fantasiing doesn't mean not being sensible.

It depends on your point of view. Some people think a person who spends a big chunk of their time fantasizing is not sensible.

 

[jutfrank]

Maybe. What do you mean by 'sensible'?

 

[alpacinou]

Maybe. What do you mean by 'sensible'?

A person who is realistic and pragmatic.

May I ask why you think this doesn't work?

He is always wasting his time indulging in some crazy unobtainable fantasies.

 

[jutfrank]

Because it seems to say that he is trying to do something. He's trying to obtain something that's unobtainable. That's not what you mean.

 

[alpacinou]

Because it seems to say that he is trying to do something. He's trying to obtain something that's unobtainable. That's not what you mean.

So, the problem is "unobtainable"? Does this work?

He is always wasting his time indulging in some crazy fantasies.

Or this?

He is always wasting his time indulging in fantasies. >Plural of fantasy