The "Bee's Knees"

I was just reading Tracy's blog "Traces of Me" and she wrote about all her research in preparation for her upcoming knee surgery. I sent her well wishes and said I hoped her new knees turned out to be "the Bee's Knees". Then I thought, "What in the world does that phrase Bee's Knees mean and how did the phrase come about?'

So of course I Googled it and

VOILA !!!




"A bee's "corbiculae", or pollen-baskets, are located on its
tibiae (midsegments of its legs). The phrase "the bee's knees",
meaning "the height of excellence", became popular in the U.S. in
the 1920s, along with "the cat's whiskers" (possibly from the use
of these in radio crystal sets), "the cat's pajamas" (pyjamas were
still new enough to be daring), and similar phrases which made less
sense and didn't endure: "the eel's ankle", "the elephant's
instep", "the snake's hip". Stories in circulation about the
phrase's origin include: "b's and e's", short for "be-alls and
end-alls"; and a corruption of "business".