what's eating you

Idioms  

1. Also, what's bugging you. What is annoying or bothering you? For example, We've conceded just about every point, so what's eating you now? or You're in a terrible mood—what's bugging you? The first slangy term, dating from the late 1800s, presumably uses eat in the sense of “consume”; the colloquial variant, from about 1940, uses bug in the sense of “annoy.” Also see what's with.

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

what's eating you

“Hey, what’s eating you, Spender? Hey?” they asked.

From "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury

"Aw, what's eating you?" demanded Tommy, who did not at all understand the situation.

From Boy Scouts on the Great Divide or, The Ending of the Trail by Archibald Lee Fletcher

"I know what's eating you, old fellow," Will thought to himself.

From The Call of the Beaver Patrol or, A Break in the Glacier by V. T. Sherman

"Aw, what's eating you?" was his amiable demand.

From The Firefly of France by Marion Polk Angellotti

"I—I 'ain't got much of anything to say, Max, except I—I thought maybe you'd tell me what's eating you, dearie."

From Every Soul Hath Its Song by Fannie Hurst