be on pins and needles
Meaning: To be very anxious while waiting for something.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “We were on pins and needles all evening, waiting for the test results.”
Category: Daily Life
Origin: Recorded in English by 1810: an anxious person can't sit still, as if perched on something prickly. It draws on the tingling "pins and needles" of a limb that has fallen asleep.
Equivalents in other languages
- Greek: Τρώω τα νύχια μου — literally: I'm eating my nails
- French: être sur des charbons ardents — literally: to be on hot coals
- Norwegian: Å være på pinebenken — literally: To be on the torture bench
More idioms — Daily Life
- make a killing — To make a lot of money quickly.
- lie low — To stay out of sight and avoid attention.
- get lucky — To succeed in having a sexual encounter.
- shout it from the rooftops — To tell everyone about something, openly and loudly.
- be in the thick of it — To be in the busiest or most intense part of an activity.
- take French leave — To leave without saying goodbye or asking permission.
More English idioms
- worm something out of someone — To get information from someone gradually and persistently.
- eat one's words — To admit that something one said was wrong.
- have a big head — To be conceited; to think too highly of oneself.
- have itchy feet — To feel a restless urge to travel or move on.
- wait on someone hand and foot — To do everything for someone, attending to their every need.
- bare one's teeth — To show hostility and a readiness to fight.