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  1. bee's knees love

Definitions

Wiktionary

  1. n. idiomatic, dated Something excellent, outstanding.

Etymologies

  1. Unknown. One of many such informal phrases coined in the early 20th century for no apparent reason, of which only a few have endured. One possible origin is from the British expression "B's and E's" meaning "be all and end all". Another is a playful mispronunciation of business. (Wiktionary)

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tags (6)

Free-form, user-generated categorization

  1. slang
  1. reduplicative
  1. anatomy
  1. metaphor
  1. body metaphors
  1. colloquialism

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  • hernesheir cf. terms which did not survive their 1920's origin such as "elephant's instep", "cat's whiskers", "eel's ankle", and snake's hip".

    Wordies: Go find some old-time radio show transcripts or book records to pin these terms down to a time or place! Jan 10, 2009

  • plethora Think of a bee,
    You are its knees.
    You waft through me like a summer's breeze.
    Can I come 'round Tuesday please?
    -- Bernard L. Black, Black Books Jul 31, 2008

  • bestiary it's a shame the use of "a bee's knee" in the sense of smallness is so long outmoded. can you think of any image that surpasses its cuteness? Jul 22, 2008

  • reesetee Ah, Newark. No wonder. ;-) Sep 28, 2007

  • john Flapper lingo for "excellent". According to this site, an early printed reference is from The Newark Advocate, April 1922. Sep 28, 2007

  • oroboros See Cat's pajamas. May 23, 2007

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‘bee's knees’ has been looked up 2340 times, loved by 3 people, added to 24 lists, commented on 6 times, and is not a valid Scrabble word.