for the birds
something which is worthless
TRANSLATION
for the birds = für die Katz sein (wertlos, aussichtslos, nutzlos)
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
"The Brexit shock will cost UK as much cumulatively as the financial crisis.... which is why Labour's claim that it can deliver Brexit and improve public services is FOR THE BIRDS."
Will Hutton, Political economist and writer (London)
Did you
know?
to be (strictly) for the birds
idiomatic, informal
- worthless, for nothing, not interesting, foolish, stupid, not practical
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
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ORIGIN
This phrase originated in US Army towards the end of WWII and refers to birds pecking at horse dung.
An early example of its use is this piece from The Lowell Sun, October 1944, in an interview with a Sergt. Buck Erickson, of Camp Ellis, Illinois:
"Don't take too seriously this 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."
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THE FILM
For the Birds is also a 2000 computer animated sort film produced by Pixar and directed by Ralph Eggleston. It won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 2001, if you have can enjoy it here: http://bit.ly/2CQwy9S (over 2.5 million YouTube views).
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Practice OWAD in a conversation today. Say something like:
"Bob thinks that owning a car in a big city is strictly FOR THE BIRDS - he cycles everywhere."
