number phrases

[nicole 5392]

what is the meaning of the phrase "one cloud nine"

[Quizmonster]

If you mean 'on cloud nine'...Lamarck was first to classify clouds in a simple way at the start of the 19th century, but Luke Howard, a businessman, later put them into �types' such as stratus, cirrus and so on. This system was developed and became the International Cloud Atlas, a version of which was published in 1896. In that, there were ten cloud types and Cloud 9 was the white, fluffy, cottonwool-like cumulo-nimbus...the sort angels are usually portrayed playing harps on! In that way, being "on cloud nine" meant floating free, in a sort of paradise, on a soft white cushion with not a care in the world.

[Ewood27]

On that basis, QM, cloud nine would be an uncomfortable place! Large cumulus and cumulo-nimbus clouds form in very unstable air and build into thunderstorms. They contain powerful up- and down-drafts, potentially heavy rain and hail. It's where the seat belt sign goes on, the cabin service is suspended and the sick bags get used! Sorry to spoil the picture!

[Quizmonster]

I should have known that an ex-pilot would come up with the unpalatable truth. Rather than that, I'd imagined someone might point out that you cannot actually lie on clouds unless you actually have a harp and the insubstantiality of an angel. You've spoilt it now for everyone, E.

[medico]

Much though I hate to disagree with the Quizmonster, isn't the cotton wool cloud plain old cumulus? The cumulonimbus is the massive, angry looking anvil cloud as Ewood suggests.

[Quizmonster]

I may well have offered a wrong description, Medico, but if you click here, that will link you to Michael Quinion - the noted etymologist/lexicographer's - web-page about Cloud Nine, which also mentions cumulo-nimbus as the cloud concerned...though for somewhat different reasons from mine! Though I haven't read it, I understand Bill Bryson's �The History of Nearly Everything' - or some such title - also offers cumulo-nimbus as the appropriate cloud-type. So, I could have got hold of the wrong end of the stick, but I'm in good company!