How on earth did 'with bells on' come to express enthusiasm? Why is good health compared to a small stringed instrument? ('As fit as a fiddle.') And what do pickles have to do with quandaries?"e; Spilling the Beans on the Cat's Pyjamas"e; provides us with the meanings to these well-worn and much-loved phrases by putting these linguistic quirks in context, and explaining how and why they were first used.