Idiom a group of words established by usage as having a meaning not deducible from those of the individual word
I’m fond of saying that I have been an entomologist since I was knee-high to a grasshopper, which I automatically expect my audience to understand means since I was very young.
Knee-high to a grasshopper?
What I didn’t know was that this well known phrase only dates from about 1850 and replaced the earlier knee-high to a mosquito or bumblebee or splinter. I can find no explanation as to why this change occurred; perhaps it was because someone felt sorry that the Orthoptera didn’t have any idioms associated with them as opposed to the Hymenoptera which dominate the insect idiom world. “Rightly so” I can hear the Hymenopterists exclaiming, “after all there are more of them than any other Order” (Forbes et al., 2018).
Hymenoptera
When I go into the Entomology Lab I expect it to be a “hive of activity” where everyone is as “busy as a bee” and there is a “real buzz”.
Strangely enough, despite the hymenopteran references I would hope that my students are all working on aphids, but then some people would say that I have “a bee in my bonnet” about them and I will definitely be making “a beeline” to the aphid cultures shortly after I arrive as I think that aphids are the “bee’s knees” when it comes to insects 🙂 I can get quite
“waspish” when I hear people making disparaging remarks about aphids although I would never describe myself as getting as “mad as a hornet” over the matter. In fact I love aphids so much that if someone asks me why I do, I will never say “none of your beeswax” and you might think that I “have ants in my pants” as I wait for an opportune moment to explain about the “birds and the bees” when applied to aphid reproduction.
Diptera
Erica McAlister author of The Secret Life of Flies will tell you that flies are where it’s at and it is certainly worth being “a fly on the wall” when Erica starts talking about flies in general.
Unless you have “the attention span of a gnat” you will be enthralled by her anecdotes. The only “fly in the ointment” is that some of her flies have absolutely disgusting habits. Erica herself, “wouldn’t hurt a fly”, no matter how unsavoury its lifestyle. I have heard it said, that sometimes, the less strong-stomached members of her audience, can be seen “dropping like flies”. I confess that I am a bit worried that if Erica reads this I will come within a “gnat’s whisker” of being slapped in the face 🙂 Speaking of gnats, I just found this expression in a detective novel published in 1932 (Wilkinson, 1932) “antiquated gnat of a custom”, but have not been able to find out exactly what it means and its origin – any suggestions welcomed.
Lepidoptera
No one could describe me as being as “gaudy as a butterfly” as my usual attire is a pair of blue jeans, a shirt with rolled up sleeves and a pair of desert boots, although I do have some butterfly-themed clothing.
Gaudy as a butterfly – nope
The previous sentence reminds me that I have written about dress codes in an earlier post, and the role this might have in curing the feeling of “having butterflies in one’s stomach” before giving a talk. Speaking of nervousness coupled with shyness, something many of us feel in social situations, which can cause some of us to imbibe liquids containing alcohol, I find that even after a few drinks I am not much of a “social butterfly”, a garrulous drunk is probably the best description 🙂
Everything got a little bit hazy
Coleoptera
Now you might think that the Coleoptera, having, at the moment, the most species described would have provided us with a plethora of beetle inspired idiomatic expressions. Sadly as I “beetle along” in my “beetle crushers” I very soon come to the end of their influence on idiomatic English. Just to make any coloepterist who might be reading this feel a bit better, the narrator in Rudyard Kipling’s Stalky & Co (a humorous novel about late Victorian schoolboys) is nicknamed Beetle, possibly because Kipling, like me, could be described as “beetle-browed”.
Beetle-browed, although my wife has been known to describe them as looking like furry caterpillars
Siphonoptera (Mecoptera)
Leaving the beetles behind us we come across the Siphonoptera, the fleas. Some people might say I have “a mind like a flea” but did you know that fleas have been recently re-classified as parasitic scorpionflies (Tihelka et al., 2020), which might make those people who say they “wouldn’t hurt a flea” think twice about using that phrase or the term “fleabag”.
Insects in general
As someone whose favourite insects are Hemipteran, I would love to say that the greatest number of insect idioms are provided by the true bugs, but that would be untrue. In general, when non-entomologists use the word bug, they mean insects in general, a particular “bugbear” of mine. I would go as far as to say that it really “bugs me”. In fact, I’d love to put “a bug in someone’s ear” about it and if I came across a journalist using bugs correctly I’d certainly go “bug-eyed”. I’m writing this in my warm centrally-heated house, feeling as
Not only snug as a bug but an example of one of my bugbears!
“snug as a bug in a rug” although once this pandemic is over I’m pretty sure that the “travel bug” will bite me, and I’ll be heading off to France to enjoy great food, good wine and plenty of sunshine.
References
Forbes, A.A., Bagley, R.K., Beer, M.A. et al. (2018) Quantifying the unquantifiable: why Hymenoptera, not Coleoptera, is the most speciose animal order. BMC Ecology, 18, 21.
Tihelka , E., Giacomelli, M.,Huang, D., Pisani, D., Donoghue, P.C.J. & Cai, C. (202o) Fleas are parasitic scorpionflies. Palaeoentomology,3, 641–653.
Wilkinson, E. (1932) The Division Bell Mystery, George Harrap & Co Ltd, London. Reprint available via the British Library Crime Classics series
Glossary
Hymenoptera
a bee’s dick – a very small amount https://stronglang.wordpress.com/2017/08/21/a-new-cooking-measurement/
a hive of activity – a place/situation where everyone is busy
ants in your pants/antsy – agitated or restless due to nervousness or excitement
as busy as a bee – very busy
as mad as a hornet – very angry
bee’s knees – an excellent person or thing, of the highest quality
birds and the bees – a euphemism for the basic facts about reproduction as told to a child
none of your beeswax – none of your business
to have a bee in one’s bonnet – to be preoccupied/obsessed with something
to make a beeline – to move swiftly and directly towards something or someone
Diptera
dropping like flies – dying or collapsing in large numbers, giving up on or pulling out of an endeavour
fly in the ointment – a small problem which nonetheless spoils the whole plan
fly on the wall – an unnoticed witness
wouldn’t hurt a fly – used to emphasize how inoffensive and harmless a person or animal is
Lepidoptera
as gaudy as a butterfly – very colourful
social butterfly – a person who is socially dynamic, successful at networking, charismatic, and personally gregarious
to have butterflies in one’s stomach – to feel nervous/anxious/excited in your stomach
Coleoptera
Beetle along – hurry, scuttle
Beetle-browed – having shaggy and projecting eyebrows
Beetle crushers – large shoes/boots
Siphonoptera (Mecoptera)
a flea in (someone’s) ear – an unwelcome idea or answer
mind like a flea – jumping from one idea to another
fleabag – a dirty or shabby person or animal, typically one infested with fleas or a seedy and dilapidated hotel
wouldn’t hurt a flea – gentle and kind
Insects in general
as snug as a bug (in a rug) – very comfortable/cosy
bug-eyed – with bulging eyes, astonished, amazed
to bug someone – to annoy someone
to put a bug in someone’s ear about something – to give someone a hint about something
travel bug – a strong desire to travel; an obsessive enthusiasm for or addiction to travellin;