Happy as a King?

[deeaimond]

Hi all, I'm rather new to this forum and its a little bewildering because its HUGE! but I have 2 questions to ask everyone here. Not sure to put it in the teachers thread or not but i figured the idioms thread would be better.

is this an acceptable phrase? 'as happy as a king'

if it is, is it an idiom?

and if it is an idiom/ and acceptable, if i were to use it in the plural, i.e. 'The children were are happy as kings' is that correct? or should i stick to the idiom form 'The children were as happy as a king'

Thank you everyone in advance.

[Raymott]

Originally Posted by deeaimond

Hi all, I'm rather new to this forum and its a little bewildering because its HUGE! but I have 2 questions to ask everyone here. Not sure to put it in the teachers thread or not but i figured the idioms thread would be better.

is this an acceptable phrase? 'as happy as a king'

if it is, is it an idiom?

and if it is an idiom/ and acceptable, if i were to use it in the plural, i.e. 'The children were are happy as kings' is that correct? or should i stick to the idiom form 'The children were as happy as a king'

Thank you everyone in advance.

I have never heard of this idiom. It doesn't make a lot of sense.
But yes, it would be an idiom if it existed and yes, you would write "The children were as happy as kings" - if it existed.

The children were as happy as pigs in mud.

[deeaimond]

Originally Posted by Raymott

I have never heard of this idiom. It doesn't make a lot of sense.
But yes, it would be an idiom if it existed and yes, you would write "The children were as happy as kings" - if it existed.

The children were as happy as pigs in mud.

Hahaha, thats what i thought too, now how to tell my boss she's wrong and my colleague to stop teaching the kids the wrong thing...

do you know like... a proper explanation for the pluralisation of Kings? boss says that it should not be pluralised because the idiom is a phrase...

[Raymott]

Originally Posted by deeaimond

Hahaha, thats what i thought too, now how to tell my boss she's wrong and my colleague to stop teaching the kids the wrong thing...

do you know like... a proper explanation for the pluralisation of Kings? boss says that it should not be pluralised because the idiom is a phrase...

No. I thought I was demonstrating that with the example.
The idiom is "as happy as a pig in mud". The plural is "as happy as pigs in mud".
An idiom should be pluralised if the subject is plural.
For example the plural of "He doesn't know his arse from his elbow" is:
"They don't know their arses from their elbows".

Some idioms probably sound natural when pluralised while others don't sound as good, but there is no rule saying you can't pluralise an idiom.
The simple explanation for why you pluralise them is that just because they are idioms doesn't mean you should use them ungrammatically.

[konungursvia]

Or snug as a bug in a rug.

[Raymott]

And what's the singular of "like two peas in a pod"?