On cloud nine

[Nonverbis]

on cloud nine

cloud noun - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes | Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com

Definition of cloud noun in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.

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We have a case of allusion here, if I'm not mistaken.

To better remember this expression, could you help me understand what does it allude to?

 

[SoothingDave]

https://thewordcounter.com/meaning-...igh above glorious white mountains in the sky.

According to The Idioms free dictionary, the term cloud nine comes from the 1896 edition of the International Cloud Atlas. Here, the types of cloud were assigned a numerical order. The number nine cloud was the cumulonimbus cloud, which is the highest reaching cloud that can rise up to 10km into the sky. Therefore, in a metaphorical sense, being on cloud nine would mean you are on top of a high up cumulonimbus cloud, and on top of the world in these classifications of cloud. There are also postulations that the word cloud nine comes from the ten steps of enlightenment in the Buddhist faith and Buddhism. While this origin is unknown, we know that the phrase has been used since the 1950s. Early examples of the first printed definition of the term were in the Denton Record Chronicle in May 1949 with an article about United States actress Betty Hutton and the Catalina Island yacht race in June 1947 with a yacht called Cloud Nine per the dictionary of American Slang. The term was also popularised by the Johnny Dollar radio show of the early 1950s. This term, along with other such acronyms or abbreviations, often have a murky origin.