Dog looks at the airplane

The day I flew back to Thailand, I wore this T-shirt that has a dog printed at the front. The dog is kinda cute, but that wasn't the reason why I bought it. I bought it because of the text "dog looks at airplane" underneath the dog.

During the flight, the air-hostess asked me what did it say on my T-shirt. I pulled my shirt striaght to show her, she read but didn't seem to get it. I guess only Thais would understand it, so I explained to her.

I said it was translated from a Thai phrase (ma-hen-kraung-bin) that was used to call a guy who aimed high. For example, if a guy liked a girl who's very beautiful and sophisticated and he was definitely out of her league, we would say that this guy was "a dog looking at the airplane", becuase he would never be able to reach the plane.

The air-hostess listened, nodded, and left. I wasn't convinced that she understood my explaination, may be she was too polite to bother me further. I thought afterwards that the word "aim high" didn't sound like a proper English as it's more like a direct translation from Thai "wang- soong" (high expectation). Then I thought may be high expectation was a better term.

Thai Phrase: Ma-hen-kruang-bin (dog looks at the airplane) - someone who expects something beyond his/her status or position.