Happy as a pig in...
Posted by Bruce Kahl on March 21, 2003
In Reply to: Happy as a clam posted by James Briggs on March 21, 2003
: : : What is the end of this phrase? "As happy as a "
: : II am sure that there
are many variations, but the most common is "happy as a clam".
: : Now, as
to why a clam would be so elated, I had no idea. Turns out that there is even
more
: : to the phrase. I Googled it and came up with the following:
: :
The saying is very definitely American, hardly known elsewhere. The fact is, we've
lost its second
: : half, which makes everything clear. The full expression
is happy as a clam at high tide or happy as a
: : clam at high water. Clam
digging has to be done at low tide, when you stand a chance of finding
: :
them and extracting them. At high water, clams are comfortably covered in water
and so able to
: : feed, comparatively at ease and free of the risk that some
hunter will rip them untimely from their
: : sandy berths. I guess that's a
good enough definition of happy.
: : The saying in its shortened form is first
recorded in the 1830s, though it is almost certainly a lot
: : older; by 1848
the Southern Literary Messenger of Richmond, Virginia could say that the
:
: expression in its short form "is familiar to every one".
: In Britain its 'happy as a sandboy'. Here's what I believe to be the origin - I live in Bristol UK and perhaps I'm biased about the precise site, but the basic principle is, I believe, true.
: As happy as a sandboy is an expression which implies blissful contentment. I believe that the saying is truly Bristolian in origin. On Bathurst basin, in the City centre is the long established Ostrich Inn. The Inn is immediately adjacent to the Redcliff caves which, in their day, were a prime source of sand. Past landlords of the Inn used to send little boys ie Sandboys into the caves to collect sand to spread on the floor of the Inn to soak up the beer and ale droppings (much like butchers used to put sawdust on the floor of their shops). The Sandboys were paid for their efforts in beer. They were indeed happy.
Happy as a pig in s**t!
- Happy as a lark Brian from Shawnee 03/21/03
- Happy as a pig
in slop. ESC 03/21/03
- Happy as Larry - but who is Larry?
TheFallen 03/21/03
- Happy as Larry - but who is Larry?
James Briggs 03/21/03
- Who is Larry? R. Berg 03/21/03
- Happy as Larry - but who is Larry?
James Briggs 03/21/03
- Happy as Larry - but who is Larry?
TheFallen 03/21/03