for the birdsとは 意味・読み方・使い方

語源

Originally United States Army slang, said to be from birds pecking at cattle and horse dung.

発音

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /fə ðə ˈbɜːdz/
• (General American) IPA: /fəɹ ðə ˈbɜɹdz/
• 韻: -ɜː(ɹ)dz

形容詞

for the birds (not comparable)

1. (idiomatic, originally US military slang, informal) Not deserving serious consideration; unimportant; useless, worthless. [from 1940s]

   Synonyms: pointless; see also Thesaurus:insignificant, Thesaurus:worthless

   • 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:

     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."

   • 1946 September 2, “Radio: Early Bird”, in Time‎, New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2010-09-14:

     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."

   • 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:

     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.

   • 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 2016-03-01:

     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."

   • 2015 June 14, “Saints, Pelicans owner Tom Benson confident as trial closes”, in ESPN‎, archived from the original on 2016-04-01:

     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."

関連する語

• shit for the birds

参照

Further reading

• For the Birds (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia