for the birds
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /fə ðə ˈbɜːdz/
ipa: /fəɹ ðə ˈbɜɹdz/
rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)dz
Etymology: Originally United States Army slang, said to be from birds pecking at cattle and horse dung.
Senses: examples: text: Sgt. Buck Erickson, Camp Ellis, Ill., News: "Don't take too seriously the belief that we have football at Camp Ellis solely for the entertainment of the personnel—that's strictly for the birds. The Army is a winner … The Army like to win—that's the most fortunate thing in the world for America."
ref: 1944 October 20, “Today’s guest star”, in Dixon Evening Telegraph, number 247, Dixon, Ill.: The B. F. Shaw Printing Company, →OCLC, page 7, column 7:
text: Burly Arthur [Godfrey] works hard. Six days a week, 52 weeks a year, he "yaps at a mike" from 6 to 7:45 a.m. over Manhattan's WABC. […] Says he: "This gettin' up at 5 o'clock is something for the birds."
ref: 1946 September 2, “Radio: Early Bird”, in Time, New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 14 Sep 2010:
text: The advertise in about a thousand magazines, always showing some hot-shot guy on a horse jumping over a fence. […] And underneath the guy on the horse's picture, it always says: "Since 1888 we have been molding boys into splendid, clear-thinking young men." Strictly for the birds. They don't do any damn more molding at Pencey than they do at any other school.
ref: 1951 July 16, J[erome] D[avid] Salinger, chapter 1, in The Catcher in the Rye, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, →OCLC, page 4:
text: One ally of the Deputy Prime Minister said: "This is blue-sky thinking, but it is strictly for the birds. It is going to cost billions."
ref: 2004 February 15, Colin Brown, “Council tax to be replaced by new levy on incomes”, in The Daily Telegraph, London: Telegraph Media Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 01 Mar 2016:
text: New Orleans Saints and Pelicans owner Tom Benson expressed confidence on his way out of the courtroom Friday as the eight-day trial to determine his mental competency came to a close. […] When asked if the trial has taken a lot out of him, Benson said, "Ahh, no, man. You know, it's not fun, it's not any fun. To have your kids turn against you, that's for the birds."
ref: 2015 June 14, “Saints, Pelicans owner Tom Benson confident as trial closes”, in ESPN, archived from the original on 01 Apr 2016:
synonyms: word: pointless
word: base
word: contemptible
word: foolish
word: for the birds
word: futile
word: frivolous
word: idle
word: ignorable
word: immaterial
word: inconsequential
word: inconsiderable
word: indifferent
word: insignificant
word: like a fart in a windstorm
word: meager
word: mean
word: minor
word: negligible
word: nothingburger
word: nondescript
word: paltry
word: petty
word: picayune
word: picayunish
word: piddling
word: piddly
word: pissant
word: pitiful
word: pointless
word: silly
word: simple
word: slight
word: tin-pot
word: trifling
word: trivial
word: two-bit
word: unimportant
word: unweighty
word: vain
word: worthless
word: wretched
word: for the birds
word: good-for-naught
word: good-for-nothing
word: not worth a damn
word: not worth a dime
word: not worth a plug nickel
word: not worth a brass farthing
word: not worth a cent
word: not worth a cress
word: not worth a curse
word: not worth a Continental
word: not worth a farthing
word: not worth a nickel
word: not worth a penny
word: not worth salt
word: not worth a whistle
word: of no value
word: otiose
word: valueless
word: null
word: worthless
word: worth nothing
word: wutless
glosses: Not deserving serious consideration; unimportant; useless, worthless.
Related terms: shit for the birds