What Is the Origin of the Saying "The Bee's knees"?
The bee's knees is thought to refer to the concentration of pollen around a bee's knee.
A Competing Theory
The term it's the business is commonly used in England, particularly around London. The term the business means exactly what it's supposed to be (i.e. excellent). Bee's knees is possibly a corruption of business.
Examples of Use:
- This new bar is the bee's knees. Look how busy it is already.
- Can I have another slice? The cake is the bee's knees.
- You're the bee's knees! Thanks for doing the washing up.
Previous and Next Sayings
More Proverbs, Sayings, and Idioms
This page was written by Craig Shrives.
You might also like...
What are idioms?
What is figurative language?
A list of common grammar errors
A list of easily confused words
A list of sayings and proverbs
Help us improve...
Was something wrong with this page?
Use #gm to find us quicker.
Create a QR code for this, or any, page.
teachers' zone
play:
the big, timed test Tetris (easily confused words)read:
200+ common proverbs and idioms favo(u)rite-word lists common misspellings easily confused words tattoo fails FAQs by writers