Killing the canary sounds like what would happen if one were to bring a small bird into a poorly ventilated mine. However, Passing English of the Victorian Era, a Dictionary of Heterodox English, Slang and Phrase by J. Redding Ware has an entirely different take on the phrase. In fact, I'm guessing that the closer we get to the holidays, the more you'll find folks engaged in the 19th-century definition of this bird-murdering activity.
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Here is the definition:
Killing the canary—Shirking work.Intrigued, I decided to delve deeper to see if I could figure out how on earth killing a small yellow bird could possibly be equated with lollygagging on the job. I may have found the connection in the same reference work (keep in mind that the slang herein is mostly from the British Isles, with a smattering from U.S. and Australia), in this definition of canary bird:
Canary bird—A sovereign. Canary, as something charming, is often associated with pleasant things that are yellow. 'Yes, it's a canary bird, but it will soon fly away to my landlord. He gets them all!'
Soooo maybe when one kills the canary, one is shirking work and killing the chance of making a gold coin or two (i.e., a sovereign).
What do you think?
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| Hey, birds... stop slacking and get to work! See page for author [CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)], via Wikimedia Commons |
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3 comments:
A far more sinister possibility seems the literal killing of an informer, or snitch. Merriam Webster groves first usage as 1504 and 1785 respectively. Mobster Louis Donaudo (?) took this meaning seriously, convicted in the killing of a snitch into whose mouth he stuffed a canary and leaving the body in a car parked in the Canaris neighborhood.
And, for another usage, https://twobrainbusiness.com/killing-the-canary
Spell check when not needed: "gives" not"groves" and not when needed; "Daidone" not "Donaudo". :-(
Oooooh great finds, Liz! And you know me: the more sinister the definition, the better I like it!
For other readers, here is the link to the Merriam Webster definition: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/informer
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