Fleeting joy flickering in the liquid

**jahrastafaray** · 19-Feb-2011, 10:19

Hi! I wonder what does fleeting joy means in this sentence

"The fleeting joy flickering in the liquid... "

Here the liquid refers to a champagne.

**JMurray** · 19-Feb-2011, 10:44

Hi! I wonder what does fleeting joy means in this sentence
"The fleeting joy flickering in the liquid... "
Here the liquid refers to a champagne.

jahrastafaray.
Here "fleeting" means short-lived or ephemeral. The writer is referring to the sparkling nature of champagne and, I assume, the brief pleasure one gets while drinking it. And perhaps suggesting that the pleasure lasts only as long as the bubbles.

not a teacher

**jahrastafaray** · 19-Feb-2011, 18:29

Hi! Thank you for your reply. I would go with the "ephemeral" also. Thanks again.

P.S. I'm not sure but i also thought that fleeting may refer to the state of liquid as it moves around or sort of behaves in a tidal movement. Fleeting in the bottle like a ship. Any suggestions about that?

**JMurray** · 20-Feb-2011, 01:04

"The fleeting joy flickering in the liquid... "
P.S. I'm not sure but i also thought that fleeting may refer to the state of liquid as it moves around or sort of behaves in a tidal movement. Fleeting in the bottle like a ship. Any suggestions about that?

jahrastafaray.
The original phrase has a poetic character and may well have come from a poem. The alliteration of "fleeting" and "flickering" could suggest words like "floating", "flowing" and "fluid", which is what I think you're getting at. But I do feel the principal analogy is between the transient sparkle of the champagne and the real, but brief (i.e. fleeting) pleasure it promises. In fact the phrase "flickering in the liquid" has a kind of sparkle and cleverly expresses this quality.