to tickle pink
1
6.3
- idiom
- Informal
:
estar encantado
- He'll be tickled pink.
Examples
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Dean will be tickled pink.
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I'm tickled pink to think you should have chosen dear old Bovington as a venue for the arts.
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Your father was tickled pink about that.
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I was really tickled pink.
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Vera will be tickled pink to see you.
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Miss Cruz, I would be tickled pink to have you race for team Dinoco.
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Einstein would've been tickled pink.
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I bet Uncle Demetrius is gonna be tickled pink when he finds out about your bureau buddies.
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Give 'em a little wine, or a bottle of hair tonic, and they're tickled pink.
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She was tickled pink when she received the surprise gift.
Synonyms
201
2.1
To give a sudden strong feeling of excitement and pleasure
94
1.0
To touch someone lightly so they feel a tingle or laugh
12
6.9
To make someone feel very happy and full of energy
Make someone feel very happy and amused
To make someone laugh or feel amused
Antonyms
How Pleased
Surface Forms
Morphology
tickle + pink
The verb 'tickle' clearly conveys amusement or delight, so a B1 learner who knows that word could infer the expression relates to being amused. However, the contribution of 'pink' (a colour) to intensify that meaning is not a regular compositional pattern and is idiomatic ('tickled pink' functions as an intensifier), so the full meaning is not fully predictable without prior exposure. This partial predictability makes the item semi-transparent.
Etymology
Tickle pink comes from the picture of being tickled until you laugh and your face turns pink with pleasure. That's why 'tickled pink' means 'very pleased'.