tickled pink

Idioms  

1. Also, tickled to death. Delighted, as in I was tickled pink when I got his autograph, or His parents were tickled to death when he decided to marry her. The first term, first recorded in 1922, alludes to one's face turning pink with laughter when one is being tickled. The variant, clearly a hyperbole, dates from about 1800.

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Example Sentences

"When he wrote his autobiography, quite a few years ago, my grandmother was still alive and he does mention Mrs Breen's shop and she was tickled pink," she added.

From BBC • Mar. 24, 2022

“I’m generally not tickled pink by things,” Bloom said.

From Washington Post • Feb. 24, 2021

“She would shift a shoulder, settle her mouth, change behind the eyes. And some deep, daughterly part of me was tickled pink by it.”

From New York Times • Mar. 3, 2020

“Until they can find a newer formulation, then I‘m completely tickled pink with the decision,” he said.

From Reuters • Jan. 19, 2018

Well, he may not have wanted me to marry Jimmie, but he was tickled pink at the idea that I was carrying Jimmie’s child and that he was about to become a grandfather.

From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson