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Clams are a kind of shellfish that live in sand or mud. They are also apparently very happy creatures.
Happy as a Clam
Speaker A: So, how was your holiday weekend, Anna?
Speaker B: Jonathan, it was great. I spent three whole days, alone, reading children’s books. I was happy as a clam!
Speaker A: Wow! Okay. You still look happy as a clam just talking about it.
To be “happy as a clam” means to be very joyful.
This idiom is a short form of an earlier expression: happy as a clam at high water.
During high tide, clams are safe from predators digging them up.
*This article has been edited and reprinted from VOA Learning English with permission from Voice of America (VOA) for use in English language materials.