[Ads-l] the bee's knees (1920)

[Jonathan Lighter]

Gimbel & Macy were a well-known vaudeville team in NYC.

IIRC.

JL

On Sat, Oct 20, 2018 at 8:48 AM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> To be a little more precise, "the bee's knees" (and similar expressions)
> mean "something extraordinary or superlative."  Some early exx. imply
> frustration or amazement rather than appreciation. (Of the sort, "Ain't
> that the bee's knees?")
>
> "The berries" was used similarly.
>
> JL
>
> On Sat, Oct 20, 2018 at 8:42 AM Dan Goncharoff <thegonch at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> So "bee's knees" went from a thing that doesn't exist (but con men try to
>> convince you does) to a thing that does exist but is exceptionally rare?
>>
>> On Sat, Oct 20, 2018, 4:31 AM Stephen Goranson <goranson at duke.edu> wrote:
>>
>> > Another non-superlative use, in a nonsense anatomy lecture:
>> >
>> > "The kidneys are much bigger than a bee's knees and much the shape of
>> > kidney beans."
>> >
>> > (Lancaster) Wisconsin Herald, Jan. 24, 1846, 1:3. Am. Hist. Newsp.
>> >
>> >
>> > SG
>> >
>> > ------------------------------------------------------------
>> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>> >
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>


-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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