This caught my eye because it ties in with some of the early examples given in the Oxford English Dictionary (if you have a UK library card, you may be able to log in to the OED online should you want to see more). The Flavells also acknowledge the US Weather Bureau theory and that the height of cumulonimbus is ‘an apt metaphor for being on top of the world, with hints of being in a dream-like, floating state’. There was also an American radio programme in the 1950s called Johnny Dollar, in which a character was frequently knocked unconscious and went to cloud nine, where he recovered (the Flavells credit this with fixing the number nine in the phrase, as does Albert Jack in Red Herrings and White Elephants). They suggest that it was popularised by jazz singers looking for a way of expressing a feeling of being ‘high’ (whether emotionally, as in the ‘happy’ meaning, or one caused by drink or drugs). They say that versions of the phrase first appeared in the 1930s (‘on cloud eight’) and referred to drunkenness. Linda and Roger Flavell in their Dictionary of Idioms and their Origins say there’s ‘a good deal of uncertainty’ about the origin. She says it was the US Weather Bureau’s classification in the 20th century, and that each category of clouds was further subdivided into nine types of clouds – of which the ninth was the highest. Judy Parkinson in Spilling the Beans on the Cat’s Pyjamas gives more detail. And apparently an older version of the saying was ‘on cloud seven’. Thanks for reading! I’m Studycat, and you can find out more about me at studycat.Very happy, as in: ‘I passed my exam – yippee! I’m on cloud nine!’ Where did it come from?Īpparently the phrase comes from an old system of classifying clouds.įrom the Horse’s Mouth, Oxford’s dictionary of idioms, says it was a 10-part classification so nine was very high. I am not going the let the fact that I don’t know this one ruin my happiness anyway. Sadly, nobody is really sure why this idiom is used to talk about being really happy. This might be why it’s such a happy place to be. In Buddhism, Cloud Nine is one of the stages of the progress to enlightenment if you want to become a Buddha. So, perhaps that was the one you would sit on if you were really happy. The ninth one was the fluffy really soft looking ones called cumulonimbus. In 1896 the International Cloud Atlas described ten types of clouds. I guess that’s one way of making you happy as well! I remember that I tried to count all of the clouds in the sky once, and it took ages, so I fell asleep. However, I do know that it’s a phrase that means ‘to be really happy’. Now, I am not sure how many clouds there are or who numbered them. My study has been going really well and I’ve been working hard, so I’m super happy. Hey guys, I am in such a good mood today – you might say that I am on cloud nine.
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