[Ads-l] Fw: birdbrain

[Bill Mullins]

1882 New York Dispatch 17 Sep 8/3 [genealogybank]

She had but just left the convent, with a little sentimentality in her frail bird-brain, with that awkening of a heart withch beats without rhyme or reason -- with that longing for the unknown which is indefinable, which tortures and makes circles about the great curious eyes of young girls.


1893 Chicago Tribune 30 Apr 43/7
So far "Bird-Brain Wiggins" carries the honors as the boss story-teller, whose hobby is climbing.

https://www.newspapers.com/image/349862130/?terms=birdbrain&match=1

________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2024 12:53 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: birdbrain

1926: OED

1916 Marsha Manning _Magic of the Moon_ (London:  Ward Lock) 117: “Only
a bird-brain would imagine there’s any comparison between them,” Sophia
remarked icily.

JL



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