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
Narayan	-	Indian, Hindi, Nepali, Marathi, Odia, Bengali
Joanna	jo-AN-ə (English), yaw-AHN-nah (Polish)	English, Polish, Biblical
Rosario	ro-SAH-ryo (Spanish), ro-ZAH-ryo (Italian)	Spanish, Italian
Alke	-	Frisian
Theophania	-	Ancient Greek
Newton	NOO-tən	English