meaning: wish away

Question

Hi guys,

i would like you to help me understand the meaning of the verb "wish away".

Let me give you a couple examples:
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I'll unashamedly empty out a whole suitcase full of cliches now, as I say to all of you who are parents of your kids: They grow so fast; Don't wish away today (thanks to my mom for that one);

Your messages will be completely under my control, so take advantage of this opportunity and wish away.

So I was so broadminded that I wished away my fate.

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thanks,
Srdjee

Savvysavz · Accepted Answer

It means 'to let go'.

Sentence 1 would mean: Kids grow fast so parents should not lose the opportunity of being/taking care of their kids while they grow.

Sentence 2: I'll be controling the messages so let go of them.

Sentence 3:I was so broadminded that I let go of my fate.

Sav

Davkett · Answer

The first example is the easiest to interpret. Parents are often frustrated with the challenge of bringing up children, and they are often heard wishing it otherwise. In that context, 'wishing away today' means wishing that the time of (the day of) raising children would be over. The advice is 'don't wish it away' (don't want it to be over, enjoy it while it lasts, since it'll over all too soon).

We have to guess at the meaning of the second example. I think 'wish away' here might be sort of like the genie in the bottle saying, "I am at your service. Anything you desire I will grant. Your wish is my command. So wish away.' (Meaning: make all the wishes you want.)

The meaning in the third example is also not self-evident to me , because the word 'broadminded' doesn't seem right. Wishing away your fate is something you might do when you don't like what you see as your future. For instance, if you are told you have inoperable lung cancer and are expected to die in three months, you might [mentally] get rid of the threat by wishing it away (simply wanting and believing it not to be true).

Of course wishing something to be true or to come true does not guarantee that it is true or that it will happen.

MrPedantic · Answer

Number 3 seems to come from a religious poem:

I wished that all would get to heaven
whatever they believed
that Buddha sat at ***’s right hand
that New Age be received.
I wished that Paul would change his mind
that Jesus wasn’t right
because He spoke of lostness and a
dark eternal night;
about the way to heaven
one truth, one narrow gate, and
I was so broadminded that I wished away my fate!

The speaker found many things unpalatable. She therefore wished that they were otherwise. She didn't realize however that the unpalatable things were a necessary part of her own fate. If she had been successful in "wishing" them away, she wouldn't now be in possession of the "one truth".

No doubt other members will find other interpretations, though!

MrP

Davkett · Answer

I just now googled the phrase and found the same poem, MrP.  It seems that it was her wishful thinking that landed her in ****, instead of Heaven where she was fated to go had she not been so broadminded.  (The path to Heaven is narrow, not broad.)

MrPedantic · Answer

Thank you, Davkett!

(I confess, I ventured no further than the second stanza.)

MrP

Anonymous · Answer

Respectfully, I don't think that's a particularly accurate definition.

More to the point:

"rather than deal with reality, she simply tried to wish away her problems'

xj

Anonymous · Answer

hi

the meaning of wish away can be to ignore sth or turn a blind eye to sth

Anonymous · Answer

i would like to wish a woman "momi dearest" away she ahs came into my marrige and i would like her gone.

Clive · Answer

Hi,

i would like to wish a woman "momi dearest" away she ahs came into my marrige and i would like her gone.

Your meaning is not easy to understand.

This does no seem like a good place to use 'wish . . away'.

I suggest you just say 'I want her to go away'.

Clive

Anonymous · Answer

That's a scary thought.  Also hard to prove as there seem to be lots of narrow roads that lead in both directions.

meaning: wish away

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