Over the moon
Meaning
Very happy or delighted.
Origin
This phrase has been part of the language for more than a century. It has become more widely used in the past twenty or thirty years, since it was adopted by English football (no, not soccer please - the game is called football) managers when interviewed after 'the boys' managed a victory.
The increased use of televised post-match interviews and hours of studio commentary during the 1970s brought many football managers before the cameras. These days such men are likely to be cultured and erudite Frenchmen or Spaniards. Before that they were usually British ex-footballers who had left schools in the English or Scottish back streets early to play football. It's fair to say that many of them have little interest in the finer points of English grammar.
Two of the best-known English football managers of recent years, who have maintained the English tradition with their engagingly entertaining way of mangling the language, are Ron Atkinson and Terry Venables. The list of quotations from them is long and includes:
"The Spaniards have been reduced to aiming aimless balls into the box." (Atkinson)
"If you can't stand the heat in the dressing room, get out of the kitchen." (Venables)
"If Glenn Hoddle said one word to his team at half time, it was concentration and focus." (Atkinson)
"I felt a lump in my throat as the ball went in." (Venables)
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/over-the-moon.html
