have a bee in one's bonnet
Meaning: To be obsessed with one idea.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Example: “Dad has a bee in his bonnet about solar panels.”
Category: Animals
Origin: A bee trapped under a hat would buzz relentlessly, which is what the idea does inside the head. An earlier form, "to have bees in one's head," is recorded in the 16th century; the bonnet appears in the 18th.
Equivalents in other languages
- Italian: Avere un chiodo fisso — literally: To have a fixed nail
More idioms — Animals
- when pigs fly — Never.
- not turn a hair — To show no reaction at all.
- two men and a dog — A very small crowd.
- has the cat got your tongue? — Said to someone who stays silent when they should speak.
- a scapegoat — Someone blamed for others' faults.
- poor as a church mouse — Extremely poor.
More English idioms
- put down roots — To settle somewhere permanently.
- on tenterhooks — In anxious suspense.
- start off on the wrong foot — To begin something badly.
- take one's breath away — To astonish someone with beauty or surprise.
- go away empty-handed — To get nothing at all.
- on the ropes — Close to defeat or collapse.
From our proverbs
- Any fool can bet. — Placing money on chance requires no skill, wisdom, or foresight—only recklessness.
- Birchen twigs break no ribs. — Gentle correction in youth prevents greater harm than harsh punishment inflicts.
- Blushing is virtue's colour. — Modesty and shame reveal moral integrity more honestly than any proud declaration.