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Glite Dictionary
to swallow a bug

to swallow a bug

9.8
To look surprised and uncomfortable
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : ponerse sorprendido
  • When the manager announced pay cuts, everyone in the room suddenly swallowed a bug.

Examples

  • She looked like she had swallowed a bug when she saw her exam results.

  • He swallowed a bug after hearing the unexpected news.

  • Don't swallow a bug when you hear the news!

  • He swallowed a bug when he saw the surprise party.

  • She looked like she had swallowed a bug when she saw her exam results.

  • When the manager announced pay cuts, everyone in the room suddenly swallowed a bug.

  • He swallowed a bug after hearing the unexpected news.

Synonyms

to gulp
vsto swallow a bug
26 2.9

Swallow a drink quickly, often because you feel nervous or thirsty

is a visible surprised reaction showing displeasure rather than a quick literal intake
to bug-out
vsto swallow a bug
  • Informal
8.2

To have your eyes stick out because you are surprised

is a surprised reaction that includes displeasure or physical discomfort
to drop one's jaw
vsto swallow a bug
  • Informal
4.4

Open your mouth wide in surprise

is a surprised reaction that leans toward displeasure or discomfort

Antonyms

to play it cool
  • Informal
27 4.5

Act calm and relaxed to hide nervousness

How Surprised

aback
39 6.0
gasp
312 1.8
to swallow a bug
  • Informal
9.8
wince
6 5.3

Surface Forms

swallow a bug infinitive
swallowed a bug past
swallowed a bug past participle
swallowing a bug present participle
swallows a bug third person singular

Morphology

swallow + a + bug

The literal constituents ('swallow' = ingest/accept; 'bug' = insect or small annoyance) do not yield the meaning 'to appear surprised or shocked'; a learner would likely interpret this as literal ingestion or reluctantly accepting something unpleasant. There is no clear compositional or cross-linguistic pattern linking these words to the defined sense of 'appearing surprised', so the idiomatic meaning is unpredictable for a B1 learner.

Etymology

Swallow a bug may come from the image of someone eating a small insect by accident; they would swallow a bug and make a quick, shocked, upset face. So today it means 'to look surprised or upset by something unpleasant'.