The word "黄粱梦" is formed from a Tang dynasty anecdote where a scholar dreams a full lifetime of glory while waiting for his yellow millet (黄粱) to cook, waking to find it still unfinished; the three characters directly reference this tale, with "黄" meaning yellow, "粱" meaning millet, and "梦" meaning dream, combining to denote an illusory or fleeting fantasy.