[00:00.10]Now, the VOA Special English program Words and Their Stories.
[00:17.07]There are many American expressions about insects -- like bees, for example.
[00:24.47]Bees are known as very hard workers.
[00:27.78]They always appear to be busy, moving around their homes, or hives.
[00:34.14]So you might say you were "as busy as a bee" if you spent your weekend cleaning your house.
[00:42.08]In fact, you might say your house was "a beehive of activity" if your whole family was helping you clean.
[00:51.65]Here is an expression about bees that is not used much any more, but we like it anyway.
[01:20.36]We think it was first used in the nineteen twenties.
[01:24.43]If something was the best of its kind, you might say it was the bee's knees.
[01:33.27]Now, we admit that we do not know how this expression developed.
[01:39.89]In fact, we do not even know if bees have knees!
[01:45.09]If your friend cannot stop talking about something because she thinks it is important,
[01:53.38] you might say she has a bee in her bonnet.
[01:57.37]If someone asks you a personal question, you might say "that is none of your beeswax."
[02:06.02]This means none of your business.
[02:09.89]Speaking of personal questions,
[02:13.53] there is an expression people sometimes use when their children ask,
[02:19.93]"where do babies come from?"
[02:22.03]Parents who discuss sex and reproduction say this is talking about the birds and the bees.
[02:31.38]Hornets are bee-like insects that sometimes attack people.
[02:38.39]If you are really angry, you might say you are mad as a hornet.
[02:45.14]And if you stir up a hornet's nest, you create trouble or problems.
[02:52.56]Butterflies are beautiful insects, but you would not want to have butterflies in your stomach.
[03:03.03]That means to be nervous about having to do something, like speaking in front of a crowd.
[03:11.14]You would also not want to have ants in your pants.
[03:17.10]That is, to be restless and unable to sit still.
[03:21.91]Here are some expressions about plain old bugs, another word for insects.
[03:29.96]If a friend keeps asking you to do something you do not want to do,
[03:36.31]you might ask him to leave you alone or "stop bugging me."
[03:41.64]A friend also might tell you again and again to do something.
[03:47.85]If so, you might say he put a bug in your ear.
[03:52.58]If you were reading a book in your warm bed on a cold winter's day,
[03:59.13]you might say you were snug as a bug in a rug.
[04:04.53]And if you wish someone good night, you might say, "sleep tight -- don't let the bed bugs bite."
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