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Naked as a jailbird
May 20, 2007, 20:39
KallehNaked as a jailbird
One of Bierma's writers asked if "naked as a jaybird" is related to "naked as a jailbird." Bierma said the idea is compelling because prisoners are stripped of everything they own. However, he said the British used the phrase "naked as a robin" before Americans began to say, "naked as a jaybird." Therefore, he says, our phrase must be based on the English phrase.
He says it most likely derives from newly hatched robins or jaybirds looking naked (without feathers or down yet). He admits it's not documented; his source was
www.takeourword.com. While it sounds plausible to Bierma, it really doesn't to me. Many newborn animals don't have fur, and the phrase doesn't say "naked as a newborn jaybird." Any other thoughts?
May 21, 2007, 00:44
Richard EnglishI have never heard any phrase that starts "As naked as..." and have certainly never heard "naked as a robin". I have heard "naked as nature intended" used by naturists but not otherwise.
If I wanted to use a euphemism for nakedness I might say, "In her birthday suit".
Richard English
May 21, 2007, 03:31
BobHaleI've heard "naked as a jaybird" but I have no idea of the origin.
"No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson.
I've heard "naked as a jaybird", as well. It is possible that the "jailbird" version is an eggcorn, although it doesn't appear in the
Eggcorn Database. I've never heard "naked as a robin". The TOWFI article cited is at
http://www.takeourword.com/Issue087.html and mentions that it was used in the 19th century. Presumably it has now died out.
Answers.com also discusses the phrase using the same reference to the UK robin, as does
The Word Detective.
The Bierma article is
here.
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
May 21, 2007, 14:26
KallehArnie, I was thinking it was possibly an eggcorn, too. There were some Google hits for it, but not too many.
I am surprised, though, that those of you in England hadn't heard of "naked as a robin" because of the TOWFI article. Thanks for posting that article, Arnie. I see that they mentioned jaywalking, too, which we have discussed
here. Hic's last question asked about the etymology of
jaywalk, and the TOWFI takes a stab at that.
I still think there is more to the "naked as a robin/jaybird" than the explanation that they don't have feathers or down when they are born. As I said earlier, that is true of most birds and many mammals, like baby mice.
May 21, 2007, 14:29
<wordnerd>Accordgin to OED, at least some Brits used to say "naked as a robin," and the USns later began saying "naked as jaybird."
But that's no showing that the latter came from the former, "robin". I find no evidence of the "robin" phrase ever being used in the US.
OED dates the "jaybird" phrase to 1931.¹ But it goes back much further, at least as far as 1899.² And an early citation is clearly thinking of birds newly-hatched.³
¹
Amer. Mercury: Vance .. sternly put them through the manual of drill, with the unfortunate private as
naked as a jaybird and unable even to clothe himself with a sweet-gum leaf.
²
Galveston Daily News, Apr. 19, 1899 p.6 c.3: The woman took the boy down to Little Sandy Bridge, stripped him as
naked as a jaybird without feathers ..., and turned him loose.
³
Lincoln (Neb.) Daily News, Aug. 5, 1916, p.7 c.5, quoting
Topeka Journal: The umpire wouldn't let Lober go to bat without any clothes on. and Ty was as
naked as a newly born Jaybird when his turn came. Thinking that the game was over, he had gone to the club house and made a dash to the shower while the rest of the players were driving in runs.
May 21, 2007, 19:49
KallehWell, that "newly born Jaybird" (why capitalized?) comment seems to support Bierma's reasoning. Still, I think the people who used it knew nothing of biology!
Wordnerd's final cite seems to offer good proof that the phrase was originally "naked as a newly born jaybird", which makes more sense. Perhaps the jay was picked as it is a common bird in the US, in a similar way to the robin is over here. Leaving aside the fact that birds are hatched, not born, that is.
The "naked as a jaybird without feathers" quote is peculiar. That's rather like saying "naked as a man without clothes".
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
May 22, 2007, 21:15
<Asa Lovejoy>We've got a family of Steller's jays
http://birdweb.org/birdweb/bird_details.aspx?id=310 nesting on our back porch. The hatchlings were indeed naked. Now they're getting feathers and being quite rambunctious. This contributes nothing to the thread, but it's sure fun to watch the progress of our soon-to-be fine feathered friends!
May 23, 2007, 18:56
KallehAh, but look at these May 13th baby
cardinals; here is a baby
mouse (interestingly, a baby mouse is called a kitten or a pinky); newborn
squirrel (second one down); newborn baby
owl. Need I go on? I just don't think someone would pick "jaybird" out of all those examples. It will never make sense to me, even if someone calls it a "newly born jaybird."
Newborn human babies are born naked, as well. They don't appear complete with pink or blue bootees, shawl and woolly hat.
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
May 26, 2007, 19:40
KallehYes, of course. Naked as a newborn baby would work, too. Maybe that's what the term should be because it includes a lot of newborn babies. However, there are some newborn baby animals that are born with fur, so maybe not.
May 30, 2007, 23:28
Myth JelliesWhy a jaybird in particular? Well "naked" and "jaybird" have similar vowel sounds and stresses, so it has that going for it. Also, I have come across a meaning of "jay" as being a country bumpkin. Consider "jaywalking" where a rube tries to cross a city street. Since kids running around naked is something you might see more often in the country, naked as a jaybird gives it more of an unsophisticated country flavor.
Myth Jellies
Cerebroplegia--the cure is within our grasp
June 03, 2007, 19:56
KallehGood point, Myth. In 2004 we did have a discussion
here about the etymology of "jaywalking," and that was exactly what we had concluded.