Exercise

1. If you are over the moon, how do you feel?

a) very angry

b) very sad

c) very confused

d) very happy

2. The expression first appeared in:

a) an astronaut's speech

b) a Shakespeare play

c) a children's rhyme

Answers

1. d

2. c

Read

You’re listening to British Council’s English Online and I’m Nina. Today on Language Snacks we take a look at the expression over the moon. Let’s listen to the dialogue.

A: Did you hear? Jack's passed all his exams!

B: That's brilliant news! He worked so hard, didn't he? He must be really happy.

A: Oh, he's over the moon! We're going for a drink tonight to celebrate, actually. Can you come?

B: Great, I'd love to!

There are lots of words for happy in English, like pleased, delighted, overjoyed and ecstatic, and there are even more great idioms. One of these expressions is over the moon. It has a very strong meaning, so we only use it about being very happy indeed. Although this expression has only been very popular since the 1970s, it dates back to the 16th century children's nursery rhyme, 'Hey Diddle, Diddle':

Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon.
The little dog laughed to see such fun
And the dish ran away with the spoon!

Don't try too hard to work out what this means though! It was a nonsense rhyme, just meant to make children laugh.

And that’s it for now – join us again for some more Language Snacks.

You’ve been listening to English Online – the podcast for English learners in China.