“Happy is as happy does” What does this mean?
I just read this article on The Economist(20190216) China section with a subtitle "Happy is as happy is told to". Feeling confused, I googled about this expression, only to find a quite similar "Happy is as happy does". What do these sentences mean? Are they grammatically correct?
phrase-meaning idioms
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I just read this article on The Economist(20190216) China section with a subtitle "Happy is as happy is told to". Feeling confused, I googled about this expression, only to find a quite similar "Happy is as happy does". What do these sentences mean? Are they grammatically correct?
phrase-meaning idioms
edited 21 mins ago
Jasper
17.9k43568
asked 1 hour ago
Mengzhen SUNMengzhen SUN
413
New contributor
Mengzhen SUN is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
I just read this article on The Economist(20190216) China section with a subtitle "Happy is as happy is told to". Feeling confused, I googled about this expression, only to find a quite similar "Happy is as happy does". What do these sentences mean? Are they grammatically correct?
phrase-meaning idioms
edited 21 mins ago
Jasper
17.9k43568
asked 1 hour ago
Mengzhen SUNMengzhen SUN
413
New contributor
Mengzhen SUN is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
I just read this article on The Economist(20190216) China section with a subtitle "Happy is as happy is told to". Feeling confused, I googled about this expression, only to find a quite similar "Happy is as happy does". What do these sentences mean? Are they grammatically correct?
phrase-meaning idioms
phrase-meaning idioms
edited 21 mins ago
Jasper
17.9k43568
asked 1 hour ago
Mengzhen SUNMengzhen SUN
413
New contributor
Mengzhen SUN is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited 21 mins ago
Jasper
17.9k43568
asked 1 hour ago
Mengzhen SUNMengzhen SUN
413
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Mengzhen SUN is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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edited 21 mins ago
Jasper
17.9k43568
edited 21 mins ago
Jasper
17.9k43568
edited 21 mins ago
Jasper
17.9k43568
17.9k43568
asked 1 hour ago
Mengzhen SUNMengzhen SUN
413
New contributor
Mengzhen SUN is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
asked 1 hour ago
Mengzhen SUNMengzhen SUN
413
asked 1 hour ago
Mengzhen SUNMengzhen SUN
413
413
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Mengzhen SUN is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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All right. So there is a line in the movie Forrest Gump that is "stupid is as stupid does". This expression means an intelligent person who does stupid things is still stupid. You are what you do.
Other variations include "beauty is as beauty does" , "ugly is as ugly does", and of course, "happy is as happy does" in our case.
edited 23 mins ago
CowperKettle
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answered 1 hour ago
Mengzhen SUNMengzhen SUN
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The example from The Economist is a play on words on the idiom "happy is as happy does". Like many idioms, it can be tough to explain, and can appear to break lot of rules of normal grammar.
Happy is as happy does.
Basically means
You make your own happiness by your actions.
In other words, you cannot expect to be happy unless you do something to bring your happiness about.
The Economist is taking the well-known idiom and tweaking it to (I presume) make a point that refers to the contents of the article. I'm going to guess and assume it means something like:
You are as happy as you are told to be.
I suspect the oldest form of this phrase is the proverb 'handsome is as handsome does', which has been used in various forms as far back as Chaucer. All the other versions are derivations of this original.
edited 20 mins ago
Jasper
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answered 1 hour ago
fred2fred2
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2 Answers
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All right. So there is a line in the movie Forrest Gump that is "stupid is as stupid does". This expression means an intelligent person who does stupid things is still stupid. You are what you do.
Other variations include "beauty is as beauty does" , "ugly is as ugly does", and of course, "happy is as happy does" in our case.
edited 23 mins ago
CowperKettle
28.9k1090170
answered 1 hour ago
Mengzhen SUNMengzhen SUN
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Mengzhen SUN is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
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All right. So there is a line in the movie Forrest Gump that is "stupid is as stupid does". This expression means an intelligent person who does stupid things is still stupid. You are what you do.
Other variations include "beauty is as beauty does" , "ugly is as ugly does", and of course, "happy is as happy does" in our case.
edited 23 mins ago
CowperKettle
28.9k1090170
answered 1 hour ago
Mengzhen SUNMengzhen SUN
413
New contributor
Mengzhen SUN is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
add a comment |
All right. So there is a line in the movie Forrest Gump that is "stupid is as stupid does". This expression means an intelligent person who does stupid things is still stupid. You are what you do.
Other variations include "beauty is as beauty does" , "ugly is as ugly does", and of course, "happy is as happy does" in our case.
edited 23 mins ago
CowperKettle
28.9k1090170
answered 1 hour ago
Mengzhen SUNMengzhen SUN
413
New contributor
Mengzhen SUN is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
All right. So there is a line in the movie Forrest Gump that is "stupid is as stupid does". This expression means an intelligent person who does stupid things is still stupid. You are what you do.
Other variations include "beauty is as beauty does" , "ugly is as ugly does", and of course, "happy is as happy does" in our case.
edited 23 mins ago
CowperKettle
28.9k1090170
answered 1 hour ago
Mengzhen SUNMengzhen SUN
413
New contributor
Mengzhen SUN is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
edited 23 mins ago
CowperKettle
28.9k1090170
edited 23 mins ago
CowperKettle
28.9k1090170
edited 23 mins ago
CowperKettle
28.9k1090170
28.9k1090170
answered 1 hour ago
Mengzhen SUNMengzhen SUN
413
New contributor
Mengzhen SUN is a new contributor to this site. Take care in asking for clarification, commenting, and answering.
Check out our Code of Conduct.
answered 1 hour ago
Mengzhen SUNMengzhen SUN
413
answered 1 hour ago
Mengzhen SUNMengzhen SUN
413
413
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New contributor
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add a comment |
add a comment |
The example from The Economist is a play on words on the idiom "happy is as happy does". Like many idioms, it can be tough to explain, and can appear to break lot of rules of normal grammar.
Happy is as happy does.
Basically means
You make your own happiness by your actions.
In other words, you cannot expect to be happy unless you do something to bring your happiness about.
The Economist is taking the well-known idiom and tweaking it to (I presume) make a point that refers to the contents of the article. I'm going to guess and assume it means something like:
You are as happy as you are told to be.
I suspect the oldest form of this phrase is the proverb 'handsome is as handsome does', which has been used in various forms as far back as Chaucer. All the other versions are derivations of this original.
edited 20 mins ago
Jasper
17.9k43568
answered 1 hour ago
fred2fred2
1,240511
add a comment |
The example from The Economist is a play on words on the idiom "happy is as happy does". Like many idioms, it can be tough to explain, and can appear to break lot of rules of normal grammar.
Happy is as happy does.
Basically means
You make your own happiness by your actions.
In other words, you cannot expect to be happy unless you do something to bring your happiness about.
The Economist is taking the well-known idiom and tweaking it to (I presume) make a point that refers to the contents of the article. I'm going to guess and assume it means something like:
You are as happy as you are told to be.
I suspect the oldest form of this phrase is the proverb 'handsome is as handsome does', which has been used in various forms as far back as Chaucer. All the other versions are derivations of this original.
edited 20 mins ago
Jasper
17.9k43568
answered 1 hour ago
fred2fred2
1,240511
add a comment |
The example from The Economist is a play on words on the idiom "happy is as happy does". Like many idioms, it can be tough to explain, and can appear to break lot of rules of normal grammar.
Happy is as happy does.
Basically means
You make your own happiness by your actions.
In other words, you cannot expect to be happy unless you do something to bring your happiness about.
The Economist is taking the well-known idiom and tweaking it to (I presume) make a point that refers to the contents of the article. I'm going to guess and assume it means something like:
You are as happy as you are told to be.
I suspect the oldest form of this phrase is the proverb 'handsome is as handsome does', which has been used in various forms as far back as Chaucer. All the other versions are derivations of this original.
edited 20 mins ago
Jasper
17.9k43568
answered 1 hour ago
fred2fred2
1,240511
The example from The Economist is a play on words on the idiom "happy is as happy does". Like many idioms, it can be tough to explain, and can appear to break lot of rules of normal grammar.
Happy is as happy does.
Basically means
You make your own happiness by your actions.
In other words, you cannot expect to be happy unless you do something to bring your happiness about.
The Economist is taking the well-known idiom and tweaking it to (I presume) make a point that refers to the contents of the article. I'm going to guess and assume it means something like:
You are as happy as you are told to be.
I suspect the oldest form of this phrase is the proverb 'handsome is as handsome does', which has been used in various forms as far back as Chaucer. All the other versions are derivations of this original.
edited 20 mins ago
Jasper
17.9k43568
answered 1 hour ago
fred2fred2
1,240511
edited 20 mins ago
Jasper
17.9k43568
edited 20 mins ago
Jasper
17.9k43568
edited 20 mins ago
Jasper
17.9k43568
17.9k43568
answered 1 hour ago
fred2fred2
1,240511
answered 1 hour ago
fred2fred2
1,240511
answered 1 hour ago
fred2fred2
1,240511
1,240511
add a comment |
add a comment |
Mengzhen SUN is a new contributor. Be nice, and check out our Code of Conduct.
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