a bundle of nerves

Meaning: A very anxious or nervous person.

Language: English

Literally: (Already vivid in English)

Example: “Before the interview I was a bundle of nerves.”

Category: Body & Senses

Origin: The body pictured as nothing but tightly bound nerves. The phrase is common from the 19th century.

Equivalents in other languages

light-fingered — Tending to steal.
Tomber dans les pommes — Suddenly losing consciousness — possibly derived from the older expression 'être dans les…
Avoir la moutarde qui monte au nez — To be getting angry.
Couper les cheveux en quatre — To over-analyze or split hairs.
Se regarder le nombril — To be self-centered or narcissistic.
Tomaten auf den Augen haben — To be oblivious to what's right in front of you.

The last straw that broke the camel's back — The final small burden that causes a total collapse.
To have a frog in your throat — To have difficulty speaking due to hoarseness.
It's raining cats and dogs — It's raining extremely heavily.
To have butterflies in your stomach — To feel nervous excitement.
Bob's your uncle — And there you have it; simple as that.
take the biscuit — to be the most outrageous or remarkable thing; to win or excel.

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? — A 'w/ch/ck' drill that accelerates comically — and nobody really knows the answer.
The sixth sick sheikh's sixth sheep's sick. — Believed by Guinness to be among the hardest in English — 'six/sick/sheikh/sheep' blur in…
Betty Botter bought some butter, but she said the butter's bitter. — A 'b / t / tt' plosive drill that bounces between Betty, butter, and bitter.