full of beans

to be energetic and enthusiastic

TRANSLATION

full of beans = quicklebendig, putzmunter sein, voller Tatendrang

STATISTICS

IN THE PRESS

“FULL OF BEANS: is coffee really the drink of high achievers? Coffee is the drink of choice for ‘ambitious high achievers’, a new survey would have us believe.”

Mark King - Headline in The Guardian

Did you
know?

full of beans
idiom

- to have a lot of energy and enthusiasm

Cambridge Dictionary


ORIGIN

The phrase "full of beans" seems to have come into popular use in the mid 1800s and is attributed to a practice of feeding beans to horses as fodder. Supposedly, horses that were fed beans were more energetic and lively.

Beans were also a staple in the diet of many Americans in the mid 1800s.


BEAN IDIOMS

- bean counter = a person involved in corporate or government financial decisions and especially one reluctant to spend money

- beanpole = a very tall, thin person

- bean-shooter = a mischievous child’s weapon, a sort of small sling-shot to fire beans

- beanbag = a cloth bag partially filled typically with dried beans and used as a toy

- spill the beans = to divulge secret or hidden information


SYNONYMS

- showing, having or involving great activity or vitality
- exhibiting enthusiasm or strong passion
- in good health, fitness or condition

abubble, abuzz, alert, alive and kicking, alive and well, as fit as a fiddle, as fit as aflea, ball of fire, ballsy, boisterous, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, bright and breezy, bubbly, bursting with health, busy as a bee, chipper, chirpy, dynamical, eager beaver, earnest, ebullient, effervescent, energized, enthusiastic, exuberant, fast-track, feisty, fighting fit, frisky, FULL OF BEANS, full of energy, full of fun, full of go, full of joie de vivre, full of life, full of pep, full of spirit, full of the joy of living, full of the joys of spring, ull of vim and vigour, full of zip, go-getting, gutsy, hale and hearty, high-spirited, in fine fettle, in high spirits, in rude health, irrepressible, kittenish, like Piccadilly Circus, never-tiring, nose to grindstone, on the go, peppy, perky, pizazzy, puckish, raring to go, rollicking, sassy, spry, tireless, tricksy, vibrant, vitalized, whirlwind, zappy, zealous, zestful, zesty, zingy, zippy


SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation, say something like:

“Rising at 05:30, I’m usually FULL OF BEANS until lunchtime, then I need to take a nap.”


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