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Head in the clouds

Posted by ESC on June 24, 2004

In Reply to: Deffo posted by Lewis on June 24, 2004

: : : I have read a small amount of information from an old archive on this site regarding the phrase "cloud 9". My question for anyone who may know, is, does cloud 9 infer a state of euphoria as was my understanding, or can it also mean cluelessness?

: : I go for euphoria!

: "On cloud nine" is definitely euphoric.
: Listen to the Temptations.

There is another "cloud expression" that people probably confuse with Cloud Nine:

HEAD IN THE CLOUDS -- "Abstracted; absent-minded. It used to be 'head in the air,' but that apparently didn't convey the notion adequately and the head had to be extended all the way to the clouds. 'Trawl' gave a sharp example of the characterization in 1903: 'The Laureate crost over the lawn with the dreamy head-in-air gait that was known through five parishes round.'" From The Dictionary of Cliches by James Rogers (Ballantine Books, New York, 1985).

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