the bee's knees en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Etymology
Attested since 1922, of unclear origin. There are several suggested origins, but it most likely arose in imitation of the numerous animal-related nonsense phrases popular in the 1920s such as the cat's pyjamas, cat's whiskers, cat's meow, gnat's elbow, monkey's eyebrows etc. A popular folk etymology has the phrase referring to the world champion dancer Bee Jackson. Another suggestion is that the phrase is a corruption of business. 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). It is possible that the bee's knees is a deliberate inversion of this meaning but is not attested. Another possibility is that this is a reference to the (visible) blobs of pollen in bees' corbiculae.
Meanings
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(colloquial, dated, idiomatic, plural, plural-only) Something or someone excellent, surpassingly wonderful, or cool.
We had strawberry shortcake for breakfast on Saturday and the kids thought it was the bee’s knees.
I used to play in a band when I was younger. We had a few fans and we thought we were the bee’s knees.
- (plural, plural-only) Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see bee, -'s, knee. Corbiculae.
Synonyms
the bomb · cat's meow · kitty's titties · ne plus ultra · all that and a bag of chips · finger-licking good · cat's whiskers · spider's ankles · mutt's nuts · cat's pyjamas · gold standard · llama's pajamas · antelope's cantaloupes · greatest thing since sliced bread · cat's pyjamas · cat's ass · the tits · bollocks · dog's bollocks · ant's pants · dog's dangly bits · da bomb · cat's pajamas · cat's meow · dog's bollocks · fox's socks · the bomb · the shit · crème de la crème · cream of the crop · bee's knees · the business · finger-lickin' good · flea's eyebrows
Translations (27)
es la repanocha (something excellent, outstanding) · hu csúcs (something excellent, outstanding) · es la leche (something excellent, outstanding) · hu legjobb (something excellent, outstanding) · es la repera (something excellent, outstanding) · pt do balacobaco (something excellent, outstanding) · fr le nec plus ultra (something excellent, outstanding) · it il meglio del meglio (something excellent, outstanding) · es las perlas de la virgen (something excellent, outstanding) · cmn 好極了 /好极了 (something excellent, outstanding) · fr c'est le must (something excellent, outstanding) · de das Gelbe vom Ei (something excellent, outstanding) · es de puta madre (something excellent, outstanding) · hu legklasszabb (something excellent, outstanding) · es la mamá de Tarzán (something excellent, outstanding) · es lo más (something excellent, outstanding) · pt fora de série (something excellent, outstanding) · es la neta (something excellent, outstanding) · es la polla (something excellent, outstanding) · nl neusje van de zalm (something excellent, outstanding) · fi maailman paras juttu (something excellent, outstanding) · es la monda (something excellent, outstanding) · nl jé van hét (something excellent, outstanding) · hu legmenőbb (something excellent, outstanding) · cmn 很棒 (something excellent, outstanding) · es la hostia (something excellent, outstanding) · ru отпад (something excellent, outstanding)