A popular folk etymology has the phrase referring to the world champion dancer Bee Jackson. The singular bee’s knee is attested from the late 18th century meaning something small or insignificant in the phrase big as a bee’s knee. Also as weak as a bee’s knee is attested in Ireland (1870).
What does bee’s knees mean in slang?
Definition of bee’s knees : a highly admired person or thing : cat’s meow.
Who created the bees knees cocktail?
Frank Meier
The Bee’s Knees was invented by Frank Meier, an Austrian-born, part Jewish bartender who was the first head bartender at the Ritz in Paris in 1921, when its Cafe Parisian opened its doors.
What is special about bees knees?
Bees have lots of other specialised structures on their legs to carry pollen, but the bee’s knee itself is no more remarkable than any of the other leg joints. Probably simply because “knees” rhymes with “bees”. The phrase seems to have evolved in 1920s America, along with “the cat’s pyjamas”.
Where did the expression up and Adam come from?
1955, from the novel Auntie Mame, by Patrick Dennis: “There was a kind of up-and-at-’em spirit of a speak-easy Girl Scout to my aunt.” You’re not the only person to notice the Times goof. John E. McIntyre cited it on his blog You Don’t Say as an example of what happens when news organizations cut back on editing.
Is the bees knees an idiom?
When you refer to something as ‘the bee’s knees’, it means that it is of excellent or very high quality. The origin of this expression is largely unknown, although there are a number of theories.
What does a Bees Knees cocktail taste like?
Gin plays nicely with citrus and fresh herbs, so it seems just right for this time of year. The Bee’s Knees is a classic Prohibition-era cocktail made with gin, lemon and honey. It’s brightly flavored, lightly sweet, and just an overall delightful drink—hence the name.
Do bees pee?
Do Bees Pee? While honey bees do drink water, they need to hold as much of the liquid in their bodies as possible to avoid drying out. As such, they do not urinate. However, bees do release liquid waste in the form of uric acid.
Where does the saying up an atom come from?
It was named and had its nose art painted after the Nagasaki mission. The name is a word play on the colloquial idiom “Up and at ’em”, meaning “There is a lot of work to be done,” and referencing the unit’s atomic mission.
What is the phrase up and at em?
Get going, get busy, as in Up and at ’em—there’s a lot of work to be done. This colloquial idiom, often uttered as a command, uses at ’em (for “at them”) in the general sense of tackling a project, and not in reference to specific persons.
Where did the expression ‘the Bee’s knees’ originate?
The nonsense expression ‘the bee’s knees’ was taken up by the socialites of Roaring 20s America and added to the list of ‘excellent’ phrases. The first use of the expression in print with the “excellent” meaning that I can find is from the US newspaper The Buffalo Times, February 1922 .
Where did the phrase “Bee`s knees originate?
The phrase “the bee’s knees”, meaning “the height of excellence”, became popular in the U.S. in the 1920s , along with “the cat’s whiskers” (possibly from the use of these in radio crystal sets), “the cat’s pajamas” (pajamas were still new enough to be daring), and similar phrases that didn’t endure: “the eel’s ankle”, “the elephant’s instep”, “the
What is the origin of the phrase “the Bee’s knees”?
The phrase ‘the bee’s knees’ was originally an 18th century fanciful phrase which referred to something that didn’t exist . It was used as the kind of spoof item apprentices would be sent to the stores to fetch – like tartan paint or a left-handed hammer. This meaning is no longer used.
What is the origin of Bees Knees?
Origin of bee’s knees. ‘Bee’s knees’ began to be used in early 20th century America. Initially, it was just a nonsense expression that denoted something that didn’t have any meaningful existence – the kind of thing that a naive apprentice would be sent to the stores to ask for, like a ‘sky-hook’ or ‘striped paint’.
