No flies on me/you

Origin of: No flies on me/you

No flies on me/you

No flies on you means that you are wide awake, sharp and well organised. It appears that the expression is originally Australian and was being used in this sense from the 1840s and only made its way to America and Britain by the late 19th century. The expression derives from the often-observed phenomenon of flies coming to rest on lethargic, stationary farm animals whereas there would be no flies on alert, active animals.