On Cloud nine?

Posted by Bruce Kahl on February 11, 2000

In Reply to: On Cloud nine? posted by ezra on February 11, 2000

: Where did the phrase " On cloud nine" originate?

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."