What Makes Clams Happy?
Happy as a clam means “extremely happy”. Have you ever thought about this phrase. What makes a bivalve mollusk happy, anyway?
The reason this phrase seems nonsensical is that part of it has fallen away. The original phrase was “happy as a clam at high tide”, that is, when the high tide makes the critters safe from beachcombers.
Knowing this makes me happy as a clam at high tide.
February 29th, 2012 at 4:25 am
Thank Heaven! I’m not the only one who remembers the ‘last phrase’ that everyone else has forgotten! In my lifetime (a LONG one!) I seemed to be the only one who knew it! 🙂
January 26th, 2013 at 12:55 am
My grandmother used to say, “Happy as a dead pig in the sunshine.”