- happy
- mid-14c., "lucky," from hap "chance, fortune" (see haphazard), sense of "very glad" first recorded late 14c. Ousted O.E. eadig (from ead "wealth, riches") and gesęlig, which has become silly. O.E. bliše "happy" survives as blithe. From Greek to Irish, a great majority of the European words for "happy" at first meant "lucky." An exception is Welsh, where the word used first meant "wise." Used in World War II and after as a suffix (e.g. bomb-happy, flak-happy) expressing "dazed or frazzled from stress." Happy hour "early evening period of discount drinks and free hors-d'oeuvres at a bar" is first recorded 1961. Happy-go-lucky is from 1670s. Happy as a clam (1630s) was originally happy as a clam in the mud at high tide, when it can't be dug up and eaten.