the bee's knees

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.

• "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."

• cat's meow
• cat's pyjamas
• dog's bollocks
• the bomb
• all that and a bag of chips
• antelope's cantaloupes
• ant's pants
• bee's knees
• bollocks
• cat's ass
• cat's meow
• cat's pajamas
• cat's pyjamas
• cat's whiskers
• cream of the crop
• crème de la crème
• da bomb
• dog's bollocks
• dog's dangly bits
• finger-lickin' good
• finger-licking good
• flea's eyebrows
• fox's socks
• greatest thing since sliced bread
• gold standard
• kitty's titties
• llama's pajamas
• mutt's nuts
• ne plus ultra
• spider's ankles
• the bomb
• the business
• the shit
• the tits