on cloud nine
idiom

- to be extremely happy and excited

Cambridge Dictionary

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ORIGIN

A common explanation for this American idiom, which appears to have surfaced in the 1930s, is that it stems from a cloud classification system developed by the US Weather Bureau.

The system apparently relied on a numerical sequence in which nine was the highest. At this level - 30,000 to 40,000 feet - cumulonimbus clouds appear as glorious white mountains in the sky. So being on cloud nine would be like being in a state of euphoria.

Other etymologists believe the origin concerns alcohol or drug-induced euphoria, such as floating around in a dreamy “cloud-like” state. This usage has been around for quite some time and is also expressed as being on cloud seven (as in German).

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Seven of course is found in a similar expression “in seventh heaven,” a reference to the Jewish and Islamic seventh heaven, the most exalted level where God dwells over the angels and the souls of the righteous and those yet to be born.

Others believe the seven heavens correspond to the seven classical planets known to antiquity. Ancient observers noticed that these heavenly objects (the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn) moved at different paces in the sky both from each other and from the fixed stars beyond them.

Source: Norriss S. Hetherington - Encyclopedia of Cosmology

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SYNONYMS

to be:

ecstatic, elated, euphoric, exhilarated, flying high, in Nirvana, over the moon, in paradise, in seventh heaven, on top of the world, overjoyed, pleased as punch, tickled pink, tickled to death, thrilled, walking on air

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SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation, say something like:

“I’ve been ON CLOUD NINE ever since having heard the news.”

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