Liliputins-267 Marilyn Monroe

Talking turkey with certain type of men is clearly for the birds ... "
Marilyn Monroe

Liliputins. What, the heck, is this ?
http://www.stihi.ru/2012/08/18/5368



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talk turkey

Fig. to talk business; to talk frankly. Okay, Bob, we have business to discuss. Let's talk turkey. John wanted to talk turkey, but Jane just wanted to joke around.
See also: talk, turkey
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.


talk turkey  (mainly American)
to discuss a problem in a serious way with a real intention to solve it If the two sides in the dispute are to meet, they must be prepared to talk turkey.
See also: talk, turkey
Cambridge Idioms Dictionary, 2nd ed. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2006. Reproduced with permission.


talk turkey

to discuss a problem seriously with the intention of solving it The session was businesslike, and according to one official,
They talked turkey.
See also: talk, turkey

Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2003. Reproduced with permission.

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for the birds

worthless; undesirable.
This television program is for the birds. Winter weather is for the birds.
See also: bird
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.


for the birds

without value

What do you think of the new system?
I think it's for the birds - it won't work.
Etymology: based on the idea that birds eat seed, which is not worth much
See also: bird

Cambridge Dictionary of American Idioms Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2003. Reproduced with permission.

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For the birds

Meaning
Trivial; worthless; only of interest to gullible people.

Origin

This phrase is of American origin and, while still in use there, has never been commonly used elsewhere. It is US Army slang and originated towards the end of WWII. 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... the army likes to win - that's the most fortunate thing in the world for America."

'Strictly' is frequently used as an intensifier, as in the example above.

'That's for the birds' is a shortened form of the vulgar version 'that's shit for the birds'. That suggests the derivation of the phrase which is the habit of some birds of pecking at horse droppings (a.k.a. road apples) in order to find seeds. Both versions were defined in an edition of American Speech from 1944:

That's for the birds. It's meaningless
Shit for the birds. Nonsense, drivel, irrelevant matter.