stir up a hornets' nest

Make trouble, cause a commotion, as in Asking for an audit of the treasurer's books stirred up a hornets' nest in the association. This metaphoric term, likening hornets to angry humans, dates from the first half of the 1700s.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Halsten	-	Swedish
Cate	KAYT	English (Rare)
Eser	-	Turkish
Mainio	MIE-nee-o	Finnish
&Thorn;Unor	-	Anglo-Saxon Mythology
Josefina	ho-se-FEE-nah (Spanish), zhoo-zə-FEE-nə (Portuguese), yoo-se-FEE-nah (Swedish)	Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish