Walking on clouds:
Have you ever had the chance to feel utterly and genuinely happy in its most superlative standard? Happiness that is beyond compare and something in its most extreme terms has not been felt ever before. For instance, you had the chance to win a lottery or you won the first prize in a competition that you participated in, or say you just somehow landed up with the job of your dreams, after working ‘mad’ hard for it for a very long time. These are the instances that you are walking on clouds, that is to say, you are simply feeling immensely out of the world, that you find yourself incapable of describing these feelings and emotions in words. The idioms ‘walking on clouds’, ‘Being on cloud nine ‘, ‘Being in seventh heaven’, all portray a similar set of emotions ie. extreme and utter joyfulness, positivity, and happiness, something beyond comparison or control.
How to use ‘Walking on clouds’ in a sentence?
Here are a couple of examples of how you could be using the idiom in sentences and passages. Examples in sentences:
Eg1: I was so incredibly awestruck when David proposed to me, almost felt as though I was walking on clouds.
Eg2: Bruno was walking on clouds when he met his new friend Max; They are so adorable, dogs really do feel affection, don’t they?
Eg3: That day Sam drank too much alcohol, but the occasion was such, walking on clouds was sort of what we expected he would be experiencing.
Eg4: I was walking on clouds the very moment that I got to know I got the job.
Examples in passages:
Eg1: Ronald was not the kind of guy who would display much of his emotions, he was quite the type who would suppress as much as he could, the urge to tell the people how he felt, but in all honesty, he just could not contain himself when he got to know he got the scholarship he would have been working so hard for. It was as though he was walking on clouds and at that moment he realized something really crucial, if you really, really do wish to have something for yourself, you are the only person who can get it, nobody else.
Eg2: It was severe; the ache of losing a friend to cancer. I did not imagine I would be able to ever get through the loss. However, when the doctors came to me with the news I was walking on clouds almost literally. They came in and told me, that the chemo was successful and that Samuel would live. They did not believe it too, said it was a miracle; Not going to lie about it, but I think the same way.
Eg3: The entire school was walking on clouds when they got to know, that the exams were canceled for the second term. It was surreal, something that could only be imagined and not really felt. But, that changed. No one knows if it was for the better or for the worse, at that moment, the kids were happy and that was the only thing that mattered. The bomb exploded minutes later. At least they died smiling.
Q1. How do idioms help us (in terms of literature)? A1. Idioms are figurative and help us bring life to the otherwise dry and stale texts. They are mostly used to express strong emotions or subtle ones, in a way that the reader feels compelled to instill their attention to what the motive of the text is. They are, however, seen to be used in more informal texts and it is suggested to not use idioms in formal writing or speech because of their nature. Here are a couple of reasons why idioms are great for literature:
Humor: Idioms are a great way to add life to your writing with humorous instances and phrases.
For instance, someone is trying to tell you that a task is pretty simple and yet was not able to successfully accomplish it. Here you can use the idiom ‘a piece of cake’: “He said lifting that 10kg dumble was a piece of cake for him, but the moment he picked it up, he most definitely broke his wrist.”
Exceptional thought process: As previously mentioned, idioms are meant to be creative and expressive, so when an author writes a piece and wishes to add some taste into the same, they add idioms.
For example, you wish to tell someone that it is raining heavily, but you wish for them to see the intensity of the situation you could say, “ Let me tell you, I won’t make it there on time, its raining cats and dogs for real. “
Q2. Do idioms help in increasing knowledge? A2. It is not new that visual and verbal cues help an individual to grasp categories of subjects more quickly. Idioms help to boost knowledge as well, that is to say, if you are stuck with something that you are unable to learn or maintain instantly, you could add an idiomatic expression to memorize these things efficiently and easily.
Eg: You relate the idiom ‘shake like a leaf’ with the sentence, ‘I was stunned to be at the graveyard that day, I shook like a leaf if I’m being honest.
Now, if you see the idiom in another sentence, you would instantly recognize what its meaning holds. To shake like a leaf is to feel extremely scared or tremble out of fear almost literally. You would not just find yourself recalling the phrase, you could also use it in literary contexts to give your writings a little flavor.
