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Christian Lopez, a New York student who retrieved Derek Jeter’s 3,000th hit and simply returned the ball to the Yankees shortstop was lauded for his honorable and unselfish act. He became the limelight of American baseball fans on the sudden. Tim Stelloh reports in the New York Times’ article (July 13) titled “Yankees Fan’s generosity is returned, With $50,000 to ease his debt,” as follows;

“At the news conference, Mr. Lopez appeared stunned. “I don’t know if there’s a cloud name for where I am right now,” he said.”

What does “cloud name” mean in this particular context. I find the word, “cloud name” in neither English Japanese dictionaries nor Oxford Advanced English Learners Dictionary at hand. Does it mean Lopez was dismayed with the great fuss around him and wished to hide from the mess that turned him out a baseball fan superstar?

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The expression on Cloud Nine is often used to indicate a happy frame of mind.

Mr. Lopez was implying that Cloud Nine wasn't good enough for how he was feeling.

He didn't want to nominate which cloud he was on

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    Agreed. Had he said, "I don’t know if there’s a cloud number for where I am right now" his meaning may have been clearer.
    – SabreWolfy
    Commented Jul 14, 2011 at 14:26
  • ＠pavium. If he said ‘Cloud nine.’ I could easily understand what he meant. I know the meaning of cloud nine because it’s on every dictionary, and I’ve seen the words from time to time. It confused me that Lopez said ‘Cloud name’. Is it customary for you to change the cliché like this for implying ‘Cloud Nine wasn't good enough for how I was feeling’ as you suggested or it’s just a typo?
    – Yoichi Oishi
    Commented Jul 14, 2011 at 21:11
  • No, I don't think it was a typo. When I saw the word 'name' it just occurred to me that he could have meant number because it would fit the popular expression (popular in America, that is).
    – pavium
    Commented Jul 14, 2011 at 23:19
  • @Yoichi: My guess is that Lopez was trying to be clever. The idiom he was referring to is, indeed, cloud nine. The use of name as opposed to number isn't an important distinction with regards to the idiom or cliche.
    – MrHen
    Commented Jul 15, 2011 at 15:43

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