You're the bee's knees
Suggest a CorrectionMeaning
You are excellent, outstanding, or greatly admired. The bee's knees can also describe an excellent thing.
Origin
Bee's knee was used by the late eighteenth century for something extremely small. Around 1900 the plural bee's knees became one of many jokes naming absurd or impossible delicacies, and by 1917 it is documented in the modern superlative sense. That use spread rapidly after the First World War and became emblematic of 1920s slang. Early evidence exists in several English-speaking countries, so an exclusively American origin is uncertain, and cartoonist Tad Dorgan used but did not coin it.
Research Sources
Variants
- The bee's knees
- Bee's knees
Usage Examples
- That little bakery is the bee's knees; everything is made before dawn.
- You fixed both faults in an hour - you're the bee's knees.
- Her grandfather still calls a first-rate performance the bee's knees.