'I'll have bats flying up my arse'?!

[Mehrgan]

Hi all,

Could this be an idiom meaning 'being excited' or something? If so, is that a common usage among friends?




Thank you a lot!

 

[emsr2d2]

Hi all,

Could this be an idiom meaning 'being excited' or something? If so, is that a common usage among friends?

Thank you a lot!

I've never heard anything like it. Where did it come from? Context? As always, that's very important and we might at least be able to work out what it was supposed to mean. But is it an idiom? No. Not in BrE at least.

 

[Mehrgan]

I've never heard anything like it. Where did it come from? Context? As always, that's very important and we might at least be able to work out what it was supposed to mean. But is it an idiom? No. Not in BrE at least.

Well, it's from 'My Family', when Ben, in a scene, says, '...oh, yes! I'm excited and I'll have bats flying up my arse!'.
I thought it might mean the same. I'll check again if there is any helpful context.


Thanks!

 

[Mehrgan]

I've never heard anything like it. Where did it come from? Context? As always, that's very important and we might at least be able to work out what it was supposed to mean. But is it an idiom? No. Not in BrE at least.

Oops! That was 'surprised'! Sorry!

Susan: 'Give Nick a job and you'll be surprised!'
Ben: 'Oh yes! I'll be surprised, I'll be surprised! There'll be bats flying up my arse!' (Said sarcastically)

 

[birdeen's call]

Oops! That was 'surprised'! Sorry!

Susan: 'Give Nick a job and you'll be surprised!'
Ben: 'Oh yes! I'll be surprised, I'll be surprised! There'll be bats flying up my arse!' (Said sarcastically)

A Google search seems to indicate it's "bats flying out my arse". This seems much easier to interpret, but I'll leave it to someone more confident.

 

[birdeen's call]

OK, no one has replied so I will tell you what I think. I'm not sure I understand what Ben meant exactly. But I think it's a reference to a scene, depicted in many books and films, of startled bats flying out of their hiding place and scaring the characters and the reader/watcher. Everyone is "surprised" here: the bats, the characters and the reader/watcher. I don't know which of them Ben considered himself. He must have seen his arse as the cave, but the cave is the only one that's not surprised in the scene.