ants in one's pants要是直译就是“蚂蚁爬到一个人的裤子里”。谁都能想象这种让人坐立不安的尴尬处境。它唯妙唯肖地表现一个人紧张不安、神经质的状况。看个例子吧。它说的是以个领导人正为准备一份报告而焦灼不安。

例句：The company's financial report isn't due until next Friday. But the boss has ants in his pants and wants us to have it all ready Tuesday. How does he think only the three of us can do it?

他说：公司的财务报告要星期五才得交，但是领导却实在焦虑不安，要求我们在星期二就得把报告都准备好。他怎么想得出只有我们三个人就能办到呢?

这位领导在人力不足的情况下，还要求手下人提前完成工作，可见那报告真是让他焦灼不安，所以ants in one's pants是用来描述人焦灼烦躁的心情的。