Green’s Dictionary of Slang

see beetle-brain under beetle n.¹

see bee’s knees n.

(US) something very small; esp. in phrs., e.g. down to a gnat’s eyebrow, to the finest detail; sharp enough to split the hair on a gnat’s ass, extremely fine.

1840		Spirit of the Times (N.Y.) 9 May 109: Well, fellas, you went that lock-step to a nat’s [sic] heel [HDAS].
1893		R.G. Hampton Major in Wash. City 156: I told him he had expressed my views to a gnat’s heel.
1903		DN II 315: ‘It fitted to a gnat’s heel,’ that is, perfectly.
1905		J.W. Carr ‘Words from Northwest Arkansas’ in DN III:i 81: gnat’s bristle, gnat’s ear, n. phr. A fine point. ‘He’s got things down to a gnat’s bristle’.
1908		L.W. Payne Jr ‘Word-List From East Alabama’ in DN III:iv 315: gnat’s toe-nail, n. phr. Anything very small. ‘It fitted to a gnat’s toe-nail,’ i.e., perfectly.
1915		L.R. Dingus ‘A Word-List From Virginia’ in DN IV:iii 183: gnat’s heel, to a, phr. Precisely.
1942		R. Chandler High Window 121: ‘What my wife would tell a peeper,’ Morny said, ‘you could put in a gnat’s eye.’.
1947		W.D. Overholser Buckaroo’s Code (1948) 64: He was a mighty cool, tough customer who figgers things down to a gnat’s eyebrow.
1958		A. Sillitoe Sat. Night and Sun. Morning 146: The White Horse is a good place because it’s on’y a gnat’s nip away from our house.
1967		N. Mailer Why Are We in Vietnam? (1970) 19: A tiny little transistorized tape recorder not as big as a bat’s gnat’s nut.
1983		A. Payne ‘Willesden Suite’ Minder [TV script] 74: There’s been nothing, not a gnat’s of appreciation.
2001		G. Coughlan Everyday Eng. and Sl. 🌐 Missed by a gee hair (ph): just missed; can be used to describe a near accident or a missed shot in soccer etc.

(US black) an unattractive woman.

1965

(con. 1930s) R. Wright Lawd Today 110: ‘She’s pig meat!’ ‘Naw, she’s gnat’s liver!’.

a derog. description of any liquid, esp. alcohol, that is weak, thin, tasteless etc; also as adj.; also fig. of a person.

1922		‘J.H. Ross’ Mint (1955) 109: The ignorant queenie [...] funks lookin’ at me [...] Blood like fucking gnat’s piss.
1959		I. & P. Opie Lore and Lang. of Schoolchildren (1977) 185: Weak tea may be ‘gnat’s piss’.
1965		H. Rhodes Chosen Few (1966) 215: They get all worked up dancin’ to that gutbucket noise on th’ juke box and drinkin nat stomp.
1966		Private Eye 13 May 1: Chocolates filled with gnat’s pee.
1969		R. Rendell Best Man To Die (1981) 10: ‘What’re you going to have?’ ‘Not that gnat’s piss, for a start.’.
1971		(con. WWII) B. Aldiss Soldier Erect 122: A waiter rushed to bring bottles of beer [...] ‘Ahh! Gnat’s piss!’ exclaimed Jock, drinking deep.
1979		D. Maitland Breaking Out 233: Harry gave vent to great rage and shouted back [...] ‘you long streak of gnat’s piss!’.
1979		F. Norman Too Many Crooks Spoil the Caper 152: I washed two greasy Wimpies down with a cup of gnat’s-piss coffee.
1981		P. Barton Bastards I Have Known 5: Bert’s plonk was evil [...] Bill flung his mugful out, remarking in no uncertain terms how much like ‘tiger’s piss’ it tasted.
1983		M. Read Scouting for Boys in Best Radio Plays (1984) 140: I bin in places where... where they ’ad this stuff ‘Earl Grey’. Know what it was? Gnat’s widdle.
1985		S. Berkoff West in Decadence and Other Plays (1985) 105: You dare to speak like that you pint of gnat’s piss.
1986		F. Taylor Auf Wiedersehen Pet Two 23: The Geordie contingent had always believed the beer south of Hartlepool was gnat’s pee.
1992		Calgary Herald (Alberta) 12 Apr. 26/3: It’s the same old stuff [...] that hasn’t the strength to clean up anything dirtier than gnat’s pee tea.
1998		R. Barnard Corpse at the Haworth Tandoori 53: Half a glass of gnat’s piss now and then is the most the doctor will permit.
2001		OnLine Dict. of Playground Sl. 🌐 gnats piss, cat’s piss adj. weak beer or cider.
2003		Guardian Weekend 25 Jan. 161/2: This mighty 100% Syrah makes Grange, the Aussie’s top Shiraz, seem like gnat’s piss.
2011		Calgary Herald (Alberta) 5 June 24/5: Compared with the other stuff I did, a drink is gnat’s piss.