Meaning
Delighted, and often visibly or self-satisfiedly so; usually in the fuller form 'as pleased as Punch'. The comparison is with Mr Punch of the Punch and Judy puppet show, a grotesquely triumphant character, so the phrase can carry a hint of smugness along with simple delight. British in origin and still common there, especially of pride in an achievement. Warm and informal, but can tease at self-satisfaction, echoing the puppet's gloating. Regional use: Chiefly British English.
Origin
Punch is the hook-nosed, squeaky-voiced puppet of the Punch and Judy show, famous for dispatching every opponent and crowing 'That's the way to do it!'. His name is a shortening of Punchinello, recorded in English from 1666, itself from the Neapolitan Pollecenella, a diminutive probably meaning turkey pullet, joking at the puppet's beak-like nose. Samuel Pepys recorded seeing the Italian puppet show in his diary in the 1660s, and the anglicised street show flourished from the Restoration onward. The simile first appears in print, according to The Phrase Finder, in William Gifford's verse satire The Baviad (1797): 'As pleased as Punch, I'd hold it in my gripe.' The parallel 'as proud as Punch' was equally common, and Dickens used both in David Copperfield (1850) and Hard Times (1854).
Research Sources
References used to check this entry’s meaning, history, or documented forms.
Variants
- as pleased as Punch
- as proud as Punch
- proud as Punch
Usage Examples
- Grandad was as pleased as Punch when the twins both passed their piano exams.
- She had rethreaded the loom herself and stood back, pleased as Punch with the even weave.
- The captain, pleased as Punch, showed the trophy around the clubhouse for an hour.