Why do people use "skies" instead of "sky" (when, indeed, we only have one sky)?
Reach for the sky/skies!
and
I'm glad to finally see some blue skies.
I'm glad to finally see a blue sky.
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Similarly, "the heavens above".– tenfourCommented Jun 9, 2011 at 23:26
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Because there are 7 skies not 1 sky. There are 6 skies behind the 1 sky.– user54822Commented Oct 24, 2013 at 8:14
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5 Answers
Skies is a poetic/literary word used to mean heaven or heavenly power. The first example sentence could mean reach for heaven.
In some set phrases, the used word is skies, as in He wrote to his sister praising Lizzie to the skies. In this case, to the skies means very highly or enthusiastically.
answered Jun 9, 2011 at 22:47
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1I always thought outlaws said "reach for the sky" when they were pointing a gun at you. On a completely unrelated note, the OED lists skyey as an adjective. Who knew! Commented Jun 10, 2011 at 8:53
According to the OED, the earliest meaning of "sky" in English was "cloud" (which is what "sky" still means in Scandinavian languages).
From that "the skies", originally meaning "the clouds", came to mean "heaven", or "sky" (in the modern sense).
The OED lists "sky" in the modern sense as the third meaning. It doesn't spell it out, but I think that what happened is that once "the skies" took on the meaning of "the expanse of heaven", it was no longer felt to be plural, so people started referring to it as "the sky". If this is correct, then "the skies" is simply an older form, which survives in poetic use and a few phrases.
answered Jun 10, 2011 at 10:48
One should mention that in antiquity the celestial model was totally different of ours today. We know only one sky but in the model of the ancients there were seven spheres which might as well be called skies. The ancient needed seven spheres to explain the movement of the different celestial bodies.
English Wikipedia has an article on "celestial spheres". http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celestial_spheres
I've never heard "reach for the skies", only "...sky".
"I'm glad to see some blue skies" implies multiple instances, e.g. a few days in a row with blue skies. (It's usually black in between. :-) ) "...a blue sky" means one sighting.
The other place where I've heard "skies" is with respect to airlines ("fly the friendly skies" is some airline's slogan). I think this is by analogy with "seas" and ships.
answered Jun 9, 2011 at 22:43
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There is also the expression to the skies: very highly; enthusiastically: "He wrote to his sister praising Lizzie to the skies." from my NOAD. :)– AlenannoCommented Jun 9, 2011 at 22:47
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Huh, thanks -- should have applied Google. I've heard "praise...to the heavens" but "...skies" is new to me. Not going to argue with NOAD, though. :-) Commented Jun 9, 2011 at 23:09
It serves to express the width of the sky.
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Wonderful answer! And it would be even more persuasive with some corroborating evidence to support the rare and exceptional usage of the word, skies, instead of the more commonplace sky.– BreadCommented Mar 22, 2018 at 23:39