How on earth did 'with bells on' come to express enthusiasm? And what do chips on shoulders have to do with inferiority complexes? Spilling the Beans on the Cat's Pyjamas provides us with the meanings of these well-worn and much-loved phrases by putting these linguistic quirks in context, and explaining how and why they were first used.

Let's not beat about the bush: the English language is littered with linguistic quirks which, on closer examination, seem barking mad.

This book explores the many colourful phrases that enhance our language, describing their origins and defining their true meanings, in an absorbing volume that really is the bee's knees.

By the top-ten bestselling author of I Before E (Except After C)