ants in pants

ants in pants

Meaning

• be extremely restless
• be very excited or worried about something
• uneasy, impatient or anxious
• not able to keep still
• extremely agitated or uneasy about something

Example Sentences

1. The young students just can't sit still; they must have ants in their pants.
2. The children are always jumping out of their seats and running all around, They seems to have ants in their pants.
3. She was very excited to be going to the party that night and had ants in her pants all day.
4. Can't you sit still for minute? Do you have ants in your pants?
5. He had ants in his pants – he could not wait to get started on his new adventure trip.
6. His five year old daughter has ants in her pants. She keeps running around never can keep still for moment.
7. He was looking forward to the expedition and had ants in his pants, but we were not supposed to start for another couple of hours.
8. He had ants in his pants when he learnt that he had been selected for the program.
9. He had ants in his pants waiting for the news and jumped every time he heard someone walk by the door.

Origin
The phrase has got a quite literal origin. If ants get into someone's pants, they are bound to get very restless, hence the expression. The phrase was popularized around the 1930s.