To have butterflies in your stomach
Meaning: To feel nervous excitement.
Language: English
Literally: (Already vivid in English)
Category: Animals
Origin: Names a genuine physical sensation rather than a purely poetic one. Under stress the body's fight-or-flight response redirects blood away from the digestive system and toward the muscles, and the resulting change in the gut produces exactly the light, fluttering, hollow feeling the phrase describes — which is why the sensation is so consistent from person to person and so instantly recognizable. The earliest citation usually given in English dates to 1908, in Florence Converse's novel "The House of Prayer," though the comparison is natural enough that it may well have circulated in speech before anyone thought to write it down. It spread widely through both American and British English over the middle of the twentieth century, attaching particularly to stage fright and to nerves before an examination or a performance.
More idioms — Animals
- القرد بعين أمه غزال (al-qird bi-ʿayn ummihi ghazāl) — Parents see their children as beautiful no matter what.
- اللي ما يعرف الصقر يشويه (illi ma yaʿrif al-ṣaqr yishwīh) — Failing to recognize something valuable and destroying it.
- Matar a cobra e mostrar o pau — To prove you actually did what you claim.
- Noyer le poisson — To confuse the issue deliberately; to dodge a question.
- Appeler un chat un chat — To call things by their proper name; to speak bluntly.
- Donner sa langue au chat — To give up trying to guess the answer.
More English idioms
- 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.
- beat around the bush — to avoid addressing the main point; to speak indirectly.
- give someone the cold shoulder — to deliberately treat someone with indifference or ignore them.
- let the cat out of the bag — to reveal a secret inadvertently.
- pull your punches — to hold back; to be less forceful than you could be.
From our proverbs
- Every dog has its day — Everyone will have their moment of success or good fortune.
- Every rose has its thorn — Even the best things have their drawbacks.
- The road to success is paved with failure — Success requires learning from mistakes.