Egg

Posted by ESC on May 02, 2001

In Reply to: Knotted knickers posted by R. Berg on April 28, 2001

: : I am Looking for the origins of the folowing sayings.
: : "Knickers in a knot".
: : "Odds and sods".
: : "Egg on your face".

: Eric Partridge, Dictionary of Catch Phrases: American and British, from the Sixteenth Century to the Present Day, mentions "Don't get your knickers in a knot" as an Australian variant of ". . . in a twist," apropos of which he says "Cf. the slang phrase 'get [one's] knitting twisted,' get one's ideas and facts confused."

Variation -- don't get your panties in a wad (or bunch).

The only reference I could find on the egg phrase is in Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, Volume 1, A-G by J.E. Lighter (Random House, New York, 1994): "have egg on (one's) face -- to look foolish or be embarrassed. Now colloq. 1951-53 'Front Page Detective (syndic. TV series): I can see egg all over my face..."