At first the idiom meant unjustified fame, but it later came to mean satisfying oneself by imagining things, or consoling oneself with false hopes.

• 成语“画饼充饥”就来自于皇帝所说的话。最初，它指有名声而没本领。后来，人们用它来比喻以不切实际的空想来满足自己。