be on pins and needles

be on pins and needles 坐立不安

pins指"大头针",needles指"针",be on pins and needles的字面意思是"如坐在大头针和针上",喻为"坐卧不安"或"如坐针毡".

A: It seems you’re on pins and needles today. Anything troubling you?

你今天似乎坐立不安。有什么事吗?

B: Yeah. I don’t know why bad things keep happening to me. You see, my car was stolen and the warehouse had been broken into. I can’t put my finger on the causes of this damned thing.

是的。我不知道坏事为什么总是找上我。你看，我的汽车被偷了，货仓也被盗了。我弄不明白怎么会发生这些倒霉事。

A: There must be someone who had planned that. He threatened to show you the color when you refused to give him a promotion.

也许这是有人精心策划的。因为你没有提升他，他要给你点颜色看看