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I am searching for the right expression that describe the state of something that is planned to be For example, I plan to bake a cake, and try to hide that from my kids. How do I ask for a hiding place for my not yet baked cake? With emphasis on the planned activity of baking.

Can I say

Do you know a hiding place for my to be baked cake?

Or do I say

Do you know a hiding place for my cake to be baked?

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  • yet-to-be-baked cake?
    – coleopterist
    Commented Nov 27, 2012 at 17:30
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    When I saw the title of this question ("the state of something that is planned to be executed"), my mind immediately thought, "On death row?"
    – J.R.
    Commented Nov 27, 2012 at 18:04
  • The first sentence sounds downright wrong; the second one sounds a bit awkward, but passable in certain contexts. Your best option is using a different construction, as below.
    – Cerberus - Reinstate Monica
    Commented Nov 27, 2012 at 18:07

4 Answers 4

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A short way to say it would be:

Where can I hide the cake I will bake?

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Where can I hide the cake once it's baked?
Where can I hide the cake I'm going to bake?

I have a feeling there are quite a number of ways of saying this...

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  • Right on, like, "Where can I hide the cake after it's done?" or, "Where will we hide the cake?"
    – J.R.
    Commented Nov 27, 2012 at 17:46
  • But avoid “Where can I hide the cake when baked?” which might invoke sense 2 of baked
    – James Waldby - jwpat7
    Commented Nov 27, 2012 at 17:59
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You could use the expression "in the works" to imply that your cake is not ready yet, but it will be ready soon.

in the works. Fig. being prepared; being planned; being done.

An example sentence is:

"My cake is in the works, but I will need a place to hide it. Do you know of any?"

I just made the expression longer, but in the works is an idiomatic way to express "the planned activity of baking".

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"Do you know of a hiding place for my future cake?"

This is not as weird as it sounds, really. We use future to describe our as-yet-unwed spouse and relations, i.e. future husband, future daughter-in-law, etc.

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    I think a synonym for "future cake" is batter. ;^)
    – J.R.
    Commented Nov 27, 2012 at 21:43

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