I suppose this is trivial to most out there.. but I was wondering what the etymology of the idiom "Happy as a clam" was... anyone care to help me out of my pool of ignorance?

*nijonetwon*
Philippians 1:3

I don't know what the etymology of "happy as a clam" is. But I like to think that it means that the clam shell is covered with shapes of smiles--those many curves on the clamshell itself, one right above the other so that the shell appears as though it's been painted with many smiles.

But I'm probably wrong.

The big gun word hounds will check in shortly, however, and tell you the truth.

Hello nijo! I think that particular metaphor is a shortened one. The complete version is 'happy as a clam at high tide'. Clams can only be dug up at low tide and are thus understandably happy when the tides come in and cover them up! I like Wordwind's version better though

Thank you so much for your clarification on the subject, it is much appreciated.

*nijonetwon*
Philippians 1:3

The big gun word hound will check in shortly, however, and tell you the truth.

That's me, nijonetwon, and I want you to forget all that pollyanna jive about smiley faces on clams. The correct phrase is " Happy as a clam at a clambake". Get it? A bit of subtle irony coupled with the fact that when clams are heated they open their shells slightly in the manner of a grim smile.

Here in Alabama we don't have many clams. We just have mussels and oysters. Our term is "Happy as a mussel at a musselbake". Oysters are so wrinkled we don't know if they are smiling or not. Glad to help.

Don't listen to him, nijonetwon. He's as full of clams as a Christmas turkey. The real phrase is "happy as a clam in shit".

Faldage,

I wouldn't think a clam would be happy there.

Wouldn't it make more since to have "Merry as mushroom in shit" as the expression? "Happy as a mushroom in ______" would work, too. People in the 21st century don't seem to view themselves as being merry people.

John Ciardi in A Second Browser's Dictionary (1983)
does not cite Kronenberger but attributes the full
expression "happy as a clam at high tide" to colonial
times, and explains that "the water then was too high for
clamming. It is simple enough to suppose that the
happiest one can make a clam is by leaving it alone." He
goes on:

"As a random inquiry into the nature of idiom, I
have asked hundreds of people what they
supposed could make a clam happy. Very few, in
fact almost none, knew of the earlier and lengthier
form, yet all understood the clipped form
accurately [as meaning very happy]."


I think there are some lessons here about both clams and
people.

Mark Dorset:

Here is a misunderstanding of what makes a clam happy,
from Edouard Manet, writing to Zacharie Astruc, during
the summer of 1879, when he was spending time at a
hydrotherapy spa in the Parisian suburb of Bellevue,
undergoing treatment for syphilis:

"As you say so well, time is a great healer.
Consequently, I'm counting heavily on it, living like
a clam in the sun when there is any, and as much
as possible in the open air; but even so, the
country has charms only for those who are not
obliged to stay there."

(quoted by Otto Friedrich in Olympia: Paris in
the Age of Manet, page 283)