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To be on cloud nine means to be blissfully happy.
According to the "Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins," the
phrase is based on U.S. Weather Service terminology. This theory holds that
cloud types are numbered, and that "cloud nine" is the designation
given to "cumulonimbus" clouds, the highest-flying clouds around,
making them an apt metaphor for being "on top of the world."
When "you're on cloud nine" you feel wonderful! Like nothing else is
really very important
Cloud nine and its variations have always had close associations with the euphoria that is induced by certain chemicals, as you can tell from the quotations — alcohol in its earlier days but more recently cannabis and crack cocaine. The cloud here is an obvious reference to some drug-induced dreamy floating sensation
Seven and heaven, a pair of words that help lyricists by rhyming, remind us of the Jewish and Islamic seventh heaven, the most exalted level, the place where God dwells over the angels, the souls of the righteous, and the souls of those yet to be born, hence the phrase seventh heaven as a place or state of supreme bliss, which dates from the later eighteenth century
According to the "Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins," the
phrase is based on U.S. Weather Service terminology. This theory holds that
cloud types are numbered, and that "cloud nine" is the designation
given to "cumulonimbus" clouds, the highest-flying clouds around,
making them an apt metaphor for being "on top of the world."
When "you're on cloud nine" you feel wonderful! Like nothing else is
really very important
Cloud nine and its variations have always had close associations with the euphoria that is induced by certain chemicals, as you can tell from the quotations — alcohol in its earlier days but more recently cannabis and crack cocaine. The cloud here is an obvious reference to some drug-induced dreamy floating sensation
Seven and heaven, a pair of words that help lyricists by rhyming, remind us of the Jewish and Islamic seventh heaven, the most exalted level, the place where God dwells over the angels, the souls of the righteous, and the souls of those yet to be born, hence the phrase seventh heaven as a place or state of supreme bliss, which dates from the later eighteenth century
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