Butterflies in one's stomach Informal

A fluttering, unsettled feeling in the stomach caused by nervous anticipation — before a performance, a big decision, or a romantic encounter.

The feeling itself is physiological (a rush of adrenaline redirecting blood flow away from digestion), but the phrase can describe either anxious dread or excited anticipation, depending on context.

The earliest known use of the singular form appears in Florence Converse’s 1908 novel “The House of Prayer,” describing “a butterfly in his stomach.” The plural, nervousness-specific version is first documented nearly three decades later, in the Moline Daily Dispatch of August 31, 1937, describing a golfer’s pre-match nerves as “butterflys-in-the-stomach,” followed the same year by an Austin Statesman article quoting a student who felt “pink butterflies all over my stomach.” By the 1940s, the phrase had shortened in casual speech to simply “butterflies,” now used as a standalone noun for pre-event jitters.

I always get butterflies in my stomach right before I go on stage.

She had butterflies in her stomach all morning before the interview.

He still gets butterflies in his stomach every time she walks into the room.

A: “How are you feeling about the presentation?” B: “Honestly? Butterflies in my stomach since I woke up.”