Dictionary

for the birds en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio
• /fə ðə ˈbɜːdz/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /fəɹ ðə ˈbɜɹdz/ (General-American)
• (General-American) audio

Etymology

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

Meanings

1. (idiomatic, informal, not-comparable) Not deserving serious consideration; unimportant; useless, worthless.
   • 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." 2015 June 14, “Saints, Pelicans owner Tom Benson confident as trial closes”, in ESPN, archived from the original on 01 Apr 2016:
   • 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. 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:
   • 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." 1946 September 2, “Radio: Early Bird”, in Time, New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 14 Sep 2010:
   • 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." 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:
   • 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." 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:

Relateds

shit for the birds

Synonyms

valueless · picayune · junky · pissass · foolish · unappreciated · draffy · simple · piteous · immaterial · naughty · unvaluable · shitey · nothingburger · no-account · trivial · wutless · tripy · petty · indifferent · toshy · idle · crapalicious · ineffectual · pointless · null · not worth a dime · miserable · shand · jabberwocky · nought · piddling · not worth a plug nickel · worthless · rubbishy · not worth a damn · not worth a Continental · like a fart in a windstorm · chaffy · pointless · trinkety · worth nothing · insignificant · paltry · putid · shitty-ass · sixpenny · triobolar · piddly · floccinaucinihilipilificatious · not worth a whistle · invaluable · drecky · cullionly · scabbed · mucid · sorry-ass · negligible · strawlike · wretched · dreckish · fucking · pitiful · draffish · nondescript · not worth a brass farthing · vain · not worth a nickel · no good / no-good · meager · picayunish · pissant · not worth a curse · mouldy · inconsiderable · punk · cacky · ticky-tacky · inconsequential · shit · two-bit · cocking · for the birds · trifling · minor · slight · not worth a farthing · good-for-nothing · cruddy · tin-pot · base · not worth salt · frivolous · two-bit · rubbishly · bastardly · scummy · suckworthy · for the birds · futile · screwy · silly · pissass · duffing · garbagey · vain · mean · good-for-naught · unimportant · worthless · goodless · of no value · not worth hell room · shitstained · not worth a cent · not worth a penny · unweighty · contemptible · floccinaucinihilipilificatious · ignorable · tenth-rate · nonvaluable · blown · not worth a cress

Translations (12)

pl do bani (not deserving serious consideration — see also unimportant, useless, worthless) · pl do luftu (not deserving serious consideration — see also unimportant, useless, worthless) · de für den Hugo (not deserving serious consideration — see also unimportant, useless, worthless) · fi to be wasted (not deserving serious consideration — see also unimportant, useless, worthless) · pl do kitu (not deserving serious consideration — see also unimportant, useless, worthless) · pl do niczego (not deserving serious consideration — see also unimportant, useless, worthless) · fi hukkaan (not deserving serious consideration — see also unimportant, useless, worthless) · fi for no reason (not deserving serious consideration — see also unimportant, useless, worthless) · fi suotta (not deserving serious consideration — see also unimportant, useless, worthless) · de für die Katz (not deserving serious consideration — see also unimportant, useless, worthless) · fi turha (not deserving serious consideration — see also unimportant, useless, worthless) · pl do chrzanu (not deserving serious consideration — see also unimportant, useless, worthless)