Cloud Nine

[scoobydooby]

What exactly does 'on cloud nine and rising' mean? When I'm having a hissy fit at work my boss always says I'm on cloud nine and rising but I always though it meant someone was really genuinely happy.

[jno]

yes.. that's what cloud nine usually means... goodness knows what your boss means, maybe some local usage I've never heard of, or maybe one he's invented himself.

[empressali]

I think he's getting his clouds and earthquakes confused. Number 9 on the Richter scale would be a cracking hissy fit!!

[Quizmonster]

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 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.

[joko]

he's being sarcastic

[Kay]

Cloud nine

Another comment: Cloud nine is an easy one. It is of relatively recent origin. The US weather bureau listed the different cloud formations and assigned them numbers. Cumulous clouds are #9.

...description by Milton(?) of nine different levels of heaven where the most pleasant would be at the top say, cloud nine.


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[Milezy]

I was told that the cockney slang for heaven is cloud-seven so cloud nine is even better! Dunno how true this is!