Feeling elated?

What does "happy as a clam" mean? Learn 10 ways to express joy

Credit: Ben White

Who doesn’t want to be happy? Isn’t that what our journey through life is all about? We’re always after that soothing feeling of happiness, which comes in many forms. Proof of that is the many ways we’ve got to express joy in our language, one more colorful than the other. You can be like a dog with two tails, over the moon, or happy as a clam, but there’s no doubt you’re feeling happy and gleeful. In this article, we’ll see 10 different ways to express joy, are you ready?

Credit: Vladimir Anikeev

There is a great variety of idioms to express happiness, and what sets each of them apart is the intensity of the feeling. Let’s begin our list with one that describes feelings of extreme happiness or satisfaction, that’s what you feel when you’re on cloud nine.

Now, why nine? There is more than one theory around it, but the most likely is that "cloud nine" refers to an actual classification of the clouds by the U.S. Weather Bureau, where cloud nine was one of the highest clouds. The veracity of this story is debated, but, in any case, the feeling in the expression is quite clear: happiness levels are all the way up there!

Credit: Andrew Hughes

Even if it has changed a lot, happiness is a basic feeling and has been so forever. Considering this, it’s no surprise that a nursery rhyme from the 16th century gave us one expression to describe this.

To be "over the moon" means to be incredibly pleased or delighted about something. This phrase became popular after the nursery rhyme "Hey Diddle Diddle," where the cow jumps over the moon, an impossible feat! It’s used to describe the kind of happiness that makes you feel like you could leap across the sky. And we truly feel that at times, don’t we?

Credit: Tim D

If it wasn’t obvious before, it is now: Happiness and altitude are inherently connected! "On top of the world" is yet another expression that describes what you feel when you are elated and in high spirits.

When you’re "on top of the world," you feel invincible, as if nothing can bring you down. Have you ever been on top of a mountain? A city is lying right under you, you look down at everything below with a sense of accomplishment and joy.

It’s used to describe the elation that comes with success and even if its origin is not entirely clear, it’s been used for decades!

Credit: engin akyurt

In this expression, altitude is only one aspect, religion is the other. The figure of Heaven takes us to a place up there with the God that rules our beliefs. The expression has been around ever since the 1800s and is not exclusive to a particular religion.

To be "in seventh heaven" is to be in a state of perfect happiness, as if you’re floating in paradise. This phrase has roots in ancient religious beliefs, where the seventh heaven was considered the highest, most blissful level of heaven. It’s a way of saying you’re as happy as you can be, living in your own personal utopia. Quite romantic, don’t you think?

Credit: Mark Tegethoff

Spring is indeed a joyful time. Flowers bloom, the days are longer, the warm weather combines with the mild wind, and the general feeling that something good is coming our way is always there. How not to feel full of the joys of spring?

When you are "full of the joys of spring," you’re brimming with energy and happiness, much like the lively season itself. This phrase is perfect for describing the burst of positivity and enthusiasm that comes with a good mood. Whether it’s the weather or just life’s little pleasures, being full of the joys of spring is a wonderful way to feel.

Credit: Alice Dote

It’s no news: man’s best friends use their tails to express happiness. How cute is it to see our fluffy friends wagging frantically at the sight of a treat or the leash getting ready for a stroll? There’s no topping that feeling for them. Well, there could be a way, maybe if they could wave two instead of the one tail, right?

That’s what the expression describes, the feeling that the ecstasy cannot be any higher, any better, any deeper. To be "like a dog with two tails" means to be extremely happy, so happy that if you had two tails, you’d wag them both!

Credit: Derek Owens

Camping is a very popular activity all over the US, especially for kids. Who as a parent didn’t send their kids to a summer camp? Who, as a kid, didn’t look forward to that bus taking them to the camp every summer? Well, one could say, those were happy campers.

A "happy camper" is someone who’s content, satisfied, and generally in a good mood, no matter the situation. The American Slang Dictionary theorizes that the expression comes from the idea that a camper, enjoying the great outdoors, is cheerful and easygoing. It’s a simple, lighthearted way to express that you’re feeling good and have no complaints. Are you a happy camper?

Credit: 晓 和

Can anyone measure how happy clams are feeling? We certainly don’t believe so, yet this is a very popular expression. Let’s see why.

To be "happy as a clam" means to be perfectly content and at ease. One could say the simile originates from thinking that a clam that’s safely hidden away in its shell is extremely happy.

Linguists believe the phrase comes from a longer version that goes "happy as a clam at high tide," when clams are harder to find and disturb. It’s a cozy, comfortable kind of happiness, where everything feels safe. Now it makes more sense, don’t you think?

Credit: Tetbirt Salim

Idiomatic expressions are created in all sorts of ways. The simplest of them, are usually created organically. There’s no complex twist in their form or meaning. That is the case for this expression.

It is quite straightforward: When you’re "grinning from ear to ear," you’re so happy that your smile stretches as wide as it can go. It is the kind of happiness that shows on your face for everyone to see. The downside? It is impossible to hide too! But then again, who would want to hide their happiness?

Credit: Todd Cravens

We don’t know about you, but we’ve never been able to see a whale and immediately state they were feeling ecstatic. They don’t precisely portray the image of happiness. So how did this expression become so popular?

First, let’s talk about the meaning: To "have a whale of a time" means to enjoy yourself immensely, to feel delighted, big time! Big as a whale? Possibly.

This expression has been around since the late 19th century and the whale metaphor has to do with how much you’re enjoying yourself. It’s not just about having a good time, it’s having the best time you could have!

ALL THINGS VINTAGE WERE ONCE NEW, RIGHT?

Do You Remember These 10 Food Brands No Longer Around?

Credit: Nik

Few things are more comforting and nostalgia-inducing than the foods we used to eat when we were kids. That includes the flavors, the package designs, and, especially, the brands that are no longer around.

Many prestigious and cherished names have gone the way of the Dodo a long time ago but there are always cases that linger in our memory. In this list, we have dug up ten examples of such treasures. Do you remember any of them?

Credit: Clem Onojeghuo

Not many cookies can claim to be as famous and successful as Girl Scout cookies. And the old-school brand Burry's Biscuit Co. was just that. That is how big they were. The brand was created in the late 19th century and was a big name in the cookie and cracker industry for decades.

Its factory in New Jersey was the largest producer of assorted treats in the country in the 1960s. These days, the brand is unheard of and only makes baked goods such as bagels, English muffins, bread, and rolls.

Credit: Ryan Pouncy

A great name for a brand that provides the strength that a good breakfast should provide, right? Force was one of the first wheat-based cereal brands and it was introduced by the Force Food Company in 1901.

Its mascot was a cartoon character named Sunny Jim, who turned from ill-tempered to happy after eating the cereal. Even though it found success both in the US and in the UK, the brand was discontinued in 2013.

Credit: Vinicius Amano

In the early 20th century, Curtiss Candy Company was one of the biggest brands with its name on many iconic treats including Baby Ruth, Butterfinger, and Coconut Grove. Quite the roster, right?

In fact, the candies Baby Ruth and Butterfinger are still around today but sold under a different brand name. Curtiss Candy Company was sold in 1964 and eventually merged with the giant Nabisco brand.

Credit: Towfiqu barbhuiya

Sunny Jim was a famous brand of peanut butter founded by a German entrepreneur named Germanus Wilhelm Firnstahl who bought a peanut roaster and factory during The Great Depression.

By the 1950s, its manufacturer Pacific Food Products Co. supplied a third of all the peanut butter in Seattle. However, it was sold in 1979 for $3 million to the Bristol Bay Native Corp.

Credit: Gabriel Dalton

While the fate of a product whose name sounds like a terrible disease may have been written on the wall, back in the 1930s, Ayds was quite popular as an appetite-suppressant candy popular in the 1930s. It contained chemicals similar to those used in cough medicine to make people eat less.

It was marketed by movie stars and magazines printed "real life stories" from people who had success with the candy. Its downfall came when it refused to change its name during the AIDS crisis in the 1980s. Maybe not their best move.

Credit: Mateusz Feliksik

Imagine being the first orange fruit concentrate brand at the time when frozen foods were taking off. That's how good Snow Crop had it. Everybody wanted it, and the brand single-handedly increased the popularity of the frozen aisle.

After the orange juice craze, it brought out frozen peas, broccoli, spinach, and strawberries, but was retired sometime in the 1970s.

Credit: Dev Benjamin

Frozen dinners have been a staple of American food for quite some time now and Buffalo-based brand Freezer Queen was a big player in the TV dinner market in the 1950s.

Its products included Homestyle Gravy & Meatloaf Slices, Gravy & Sliced Turkey, and Gravy & Salisbury Steak. However, it was unexpectedly dropped after the factory failed a food safety inspection.

Credit: Duskfall Crew

Keeping on with the frozen dinner trend, we can’t avoid the brand that created the category. Swanson’s first tray had turkey, mashed potatoes, and gravy, and it was reheated in the oven.

Launched in the 1950s, around the time more women were going into the workforce, they were wildly successful. These days they’re sold under the Hungry-Man brand.

Credit: Nathan Bingle

Before Cool Whip, there was Lucky Whip. The dessert topping came in a box as well as a spray can and it was a staple in kitchens across the country in the 1960s and 1970s.

You may remember its ads with cute kids putting the whipped topping onto desserts. Sadly, by the 2000s it had all but vanished from the shelves.

Credit: Ioann-Mark Kuznietsov

The equivalent of a TV dinner, but in a cup, the curiously-named brand of dehydrated meals from General Mills, Mug-O-Lunch was known for being quick, convenient, and, yes, tasty.

It appeared in the 1970s, the era of all sorts of weird and wonderful convenience foods, and included varieties like macaroni and cheese, spaghetti, and beef noodles. It lasted on shelves a few years before, alas, it was discontinued.