"Cloud eight, befuddled on account of drinking too much liquor." The early references all come from mid 20th century USA and the earliest that I've found is in Albin Pollock's directory of slang, The Underworld Speaks, 1935: The imagery was originally of a 'cloud cuckoo land' or 'head in the clouds' dreaminess, induced by either intoxication or inspiration, rather than the 'idyllic happiness' that we now associate with the phrase. It seems that it is the clouds themselves, rather than the number of them, that were in the thoughts of those who coined this phrase. Early examples of 'cloud' expressions include clouds seven, eight, nine and even thirty-nine. Also, the fact that nine is far from the only number that has been linked with clouds, argues against those origins. To single out the last but one stage of either is rather like attributing the source of the 'whole nine yards' to American Football, where it is ten yards rather than nine that is a significant measure. To begin with, both the cloud classifications and the Buddhist stages to enlightenment have ten levels. Neither of these explanations holds water. 'On cloud nine' is no exception.Ī commonly heard explanation is that the expression originated as one of the classifications of cloud which were defined by the US Weather Bureau in the 1950s, in which 'Cloud Nine' denotes the fluffy cumulonimbus type that are considered so attractive.Īnother explanation is that the phrase derives from Buddhism and that Cloud Nine is one of the stages of the progress to enlightenment of a Bodhisattva (one destined to become a Buddha). Whenever a phrase includes a number, like the whole nine yards, at sixes and sevens etc., then attempts to find its derivation usually focus on the significance of the number. What's the origin of the phrase 'On cloud nine'? To be 'on cloud nine' is to be in a state of blissful happiness. The natural world What's the meaning of the phrase 'On cloud nine'?.
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