# Origin of 'cloud nine' or 'cloud 9'?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-cloud-nine-or-cloud-9/314561>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 28, 2005, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-cloud-nine-or-cloud-9/314561 "2005-07-28T11:13:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\
**Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-cloud-nine-or-cloud-9/314561/1 "2005-07-28T11:13:39Z")

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Just saw this term in another thread. I know it means elation, but why?

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**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\
**Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-cloud-nine-or-cloud-9/314561/2 "2005-07-28T11:21:02Z")

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[Some thoughts](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-clo1.htm)

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**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\
**Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-cloud-nine-or-cloud-9/314561/3 "2005-07-28T11:26:25Z")

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> [@don't ask](#):
>
> [Some thoughts](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-clo1.htm)

Ah, Thanks.

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**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\
**Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-cloud-nine-or-cloud-9/314561/4 "2005-07-28T11:28:02Z")

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It’s a great site…check out _the whole nine yards_ for a version I had never seen before.

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**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\
**Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-cloud-nine-or-cloud-9/314561/5 "2005-07-28T11:32:05Z")

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> [@don't ask](#):
>
> It’s a great site…check out _the whole nine yards_ for a version I had never seen before.

I didn’t look at the title of the site initially, but now that I have I think I’ll have a deeper look.

I think I asked about the whole nine yards once… and was told it was related to American football. The article on the site is long… I’ll read it at work. While eating a warm runny scotch egg.

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**Author:** ![rfgdxm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\
**Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-cloud-nine-or-cloud-9/314561/6 "2005-07-28T16:51:55Z")

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> [@Lobsang](#):
>
> I think I asked about the whole nine yards once… and was told it was related to American football.

Search this site for threads about this phrase. Earliest print cites seem to suggest some US military origin. If it came from football, why aren’t the earliest cites by sports writers and such?