# What does ‘have butterflies in your stomach’ mean?

To “have butterflies in your stomach” means to feel nervous anticipation. A 20th-century idiom, not in Brewer's 1898; the image describes a fluttering sensation before a big event.

## What it means

- A 20th-century idiom, not in Brewer's 1898; the image describes a fluttering sensation before a big event.

## Action steps

1. Very common about auditions, dates, and performances.
2. Example: I had butterflies in my stomach before the interview.

## Sources

- [Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898) — Internet Archive scan](https://archive.org/details/brewers-dictionary-of-phrase-and-fable)

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Published: 2026-07-18T04:16:35.062519+00:00
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