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Originated as slang in the flapper culture of the 1920's. Began as a reference to a style of dress where the skirt length ended above the top of the stocking. The exposed skin was referred to as, The Cat's Meow. Think of the comic character Betty Boop from the same era. There were a number of gender-based phrases used by flappers as an inside joke in polite society...such as the eel's ankles, the snake's garters, and...the bee's knees. It eventually came to represent something 'desirable' and now means something great or outstanding.

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12y ago

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