Naked as a jaybird
Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons
Debby from 'Life's Funny Like That' mentioned this expression in a comment the other day and it was unfamiliar to me, so, being incurably nosy, I looked it up. It is an American idiom, first recorded in 1843, but growing in popularity from the 1920s.
It replaced the earlier saying, ‘naked as a robin,’ perhaps because it seemed a more robust phrase. Some have suggested that the original idiom was ‘naked as a fledgling robin/jaybird,’ since such baby birds are naked on hatching, but this was dismissed by others who claim that the word ‘fledgling’ was never part of the expression.
Why was the saying never ‘naked as a jay’ or even ‘naked as a blue jay,’ which has a nice ring to it?
‘Naked as a jaybird’ can be used to refer to ‘jailbirds,’ or prisoners who were stripped and disinfected before being issued with prison garb. ‘Jailbird’ has been in use since the seventeenth century in England, conjuring rather fanciful images of miscreants as birds in iron cages, or gaols. Gaol was a standard English spelling until the middle of the twentieth century, but is rarely used now.
Something else I read suggested that the expression arose because young jay nestlings, before their feathers have grown, often push their siblings out of the nest, when they are naked.
In short, I’m almost as mystified as I was before I started looking at this idiom. Of course, it is shameful to be caught naked in public, unless you’re staying in a nudist colony or disporting yourself on a nudist beach.
Is a nudist beach one that doesn’t wear clothes? What is the well-dressed beach wearing this year?
I imagine a well-dressed beach has plenty of clean sand, no scummy tide marks and prettier shells than a "nude" beach who probably doesn't care what she looks like. We have a nudist beach here in Adelaide but the nudity is optional I've heard. I won't be going there.
ReplyDeleteIt's strange that many who choose to be nude seem to care little about how they actually look. Isn't that spiteful of me?
DeleteP.S. I have heard the term "naked as a newborn" but not often, and mostly said by older women in their 80s-90s.
ReplyDeleteWe're not as shocked by nakedness now - hardly surprising, really, when there's so much of it about.
DeleteI heard this term often when I was growing up in the South. It was used to refer to any number of different things. Blue Jays always nested in our yard and so I sometimes saw the actual naked jaybirds.
ReplyDeleteHow lovely. They are such beautiful little birds.
DeleteNow I am not sure what variation I have heard.
ReplyDeleteI'm good at confusing people!
DeleteI would imagine men named Robin objected
ReplyDeleteYou're probably right. 😂🤣
DeleteWell now...you even have this Americana puzzled. "Naked as a jaybird" is a very common and oft-used expression in these parts but never, ever, have I heard "naked as a robin," and, truth be told, I find the latter somewhat offensive LOL. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI understand your distress, Robin!
DeleteI think I've heard some of that but here in Hawaii we had different terms when I was growing up which were Hawaiian pidgin.
ReplyDeletePidgin fascinates me - I wonder if there's pidgin for every language. I just looked - there are many forms.
DeleteThe explanation making most sense to me is that the expression originally was "jailbird" but got passed on as "jaybird" because of mishearing/mispronouncing/misunderstanding.
ReplyDeleteThat seems logical to me, too.
DeleteWhen I read tge title of your post I had never heard that expression. I then read on to read it is American. But then I wondered what do we say here? It is now really bothering me as I can't remember the English equivalent!
ReplyDeleteI had a quick look and the UK alternatives seem to be 'starkers,' 'in the altogether,' and similar phrases.
DeleteWeirdly I am more interested in how Gaol migrated to Jail, though they sound slightly similar.
ReplyDeleteI found this: "Jail" is the standard, modern spelling in the US and is now the preferred, dominant spelling in the UK and Australia, although "gaol" is a recognized, traditional British variant. While "gaol" was standard in the UK until the mid-20th century, it is now considered archaic or formal.
DeleteJail (Standard): Used in the US since the 1820s and preferred in modern British/Australian English to reflect common pronunciation.
Gaol (Old-fashioned/Formal): Derived from Old Northern French, it was commonly used in literature and official documents in the UK and Australia, but it is largely being phased out in favor of "jail".
My mum always said, 'naked as the day you were born'
ReplyDeleteThat's familiar.
DeleteI haven't heard that saying in years. I used to hear it when I was growing up though.
ReplyDelete😊
DeleteAll this talk of nakedness is making me blush ...(grasps pearls in horror) ...
ReplyDeleteHeavens to Betsy, what a shock!
ReplyDeleteI'm laughing at the nudist beach. All that naked sand. And yes there's my blue jay that steals as much bird food from the backyard as he can!
ReplyDeleteHi Janice - yes ... naked as the day we were born ... now: not a good idea!
ReplyDeleteCheers ... we'll have lots of naked fledglings soon, before their feathers appear - happy weekend and then longer evenings - Hilary
I hope we don't find too many naked nestlings on the ground!
DeleteI've heard it once or twice, but it's not something people use here every day lol. On a side note, I love Blue Jays. They are such funny birds and they mimic other birds calls to scare off competing birds.
ReplyDeleteThey are beautiful - such a glorious blue.
DeleteI have heard the expression “naked as a jaybird” but never in popular parlance. Seems like the kind of expression one might find in a cheap cowboy novel.
ReplyDeleteI can imagine the accent, too . . .
DeleteBob and I are 81 and 89 and he is from the north me from the south of USA and he says naked as a jaybird, I say naked as a bluejay.. anytime the words are used it involves some one who is naked where they should not be.. I have read thousands of cheap cowboy novels. ha ha
ReplyDeleteNever a good idea to be naked where you shouldn't be . . .
DeleteI never thought of naked as a jaybird having any connection with jailbirds!
ReplyDeleteThat's because you're a good, clean-living kind of guy!
DeleteWell ... I've never come across these words until today!!!
ReplyDeleteThe words our family use would be, "naked as the day you were born"
That is a beautiful photograph of the blue jay.
All the best Jan
That's the expression I have heard, too.
DeleteDo we have blue jays in this country? I don't think so.
ReplyDeleteWe don't have blue jays, or bluebirds, even in Dover.
DeleteAnother fun read.
ReplyDelete😀
DeleteHadn't heard that expression -Christine cmlk79.blogspot.com
ReplyDeletePerhaps it's not used in Canada.
DeleteWe say naked as a Jaybird here in Wisconsin. I never heard naked as a jailbird. That was very interesting.
ReplyDeleteThank you.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard that expression and your photo shows an extremely well-dressed bird!
ReplyDeleteIt is supremely well dressed, indeed.
ReplyDeleteOh, there's the beautiful jay I grew up with in Indiana! As I've mentioned before, we have Steller's jays on the coast of California but twice in the last ten years we briefly saw a cyanocitta cristata. I could hardly believe my eyes. Someone was very seriously out of their normal habitat.
ReplyDeleteIt is so beautiful.
ReplyDeleteYep, "naked as a jaybird" is very familiar to this American!
ReplyDelete😊
DeleteGaol was taught to me in the 60s and I still spell it that way.
ReplyDeleteThe interesting bits of the nudist beach will be covered in seaweed.
I like the older spelling! I agree about the interesting parts of the nudist beach. Most human bodies are more attractive when clothed, in my opinion.
Delete