red canary in the coal mine

[Rick Barr]

I did get a Google hit, from 2007. It's comment No. 19 here:
http://aussiestockforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8628

The meaning seems to be comparable to the one you reported on MSNBC.

-- Rick

<http://aussiestockforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8628>

On Tue, May 11, 2010 at 1:43 PM, Herb Stahlke <hfwstahlke at gmail.com> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Herb Stahlke <hfwstahlke at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      red canary in the coal mine
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On MSNBC a few minutes ago, Savannah Guthrie referred to Senator
> Robert Bennett's defeat in Utah as "the red canary in the coal mine,"
> meaning, I think, that it's a harbinger for Republican incumbents.
> The phrase gets no Google hits, so it might be original and a one-off.
>  Not bad if it's original.
>
> Herb
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org