This idiom, which Ravi Shastri uses quite frequently while commentating, has been around for over 400 years. Someone who is pleased as Punch is extremely happy; he/she is elated.
*Devidas was pleased as Punch when he got his promotion.
The `Punch’ in the idiom has nothing to do with the drink or the blow that villains seem to receive from our film heroes. It refers to a character in a 17th Century puppet show called `Punch and Judy’. The main character, Punch, was a very content person who sang cheerfully all the time. Hence the expression, pleased as Punch.
Source: The Hindu ‘Know Your English’ Series, November 28, 2005.
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