for the birds | Idiomator

Meaning: (idiomatic,originallyUSmilitaryslang,informal)Notdeservingseriousconsideration;unimportant;useless,worthless.[from 1940s]Synonyms:pointless;see alsoThesaurus:insignificant,Thesaurus:worthless1944October 20, “Today’s guest star”, inDixon Evening Telegraph, number247, Dixon, Ill.: The B. F. Shaw Printing Company,→OCLC,page 7, column 7:Sgt. Buck Erickson, Camp Ellis, Ill., News: "Don't take too seriously the belief that we have football at Camp Ellis solely for the entertainment of the personnel—that's strictlyfor the birds. The Army is a winner … The Army like to win—that's the most fortunate thing in the world for America."1946September 2, “Radio: Early Bird”, inTime‎[1], New York, N.Y.:Time Inc.,→ISSN,→OCLC, archived fromthe originalon14 September 2010:BurlyArthur[Godfrey]works hard. Six days a week, 52 weeks a year, he "yaps at a mike" from 6 to 7:45 a.m. over Manhattan's WABC.[…]Says he: "This gettin' up at 5 o'clock is somethingfor the birds."1951July 16,J[erome] D[avid] Salinger, chapter 1, inThe Catcher in the Rye, Boston, Mass.:Little, Brown and Company,→OCLC,page 4:The advertise in about a thousand magazines, always showing some hot-shot guy on a horse jumping over a fence.[…]And underneath the guy on the horse's picture, it always says: "Since 1888 we have been molding boys into splendid, clear-thinking young men." Strictlyfor the birds. They don't do any damn moremolding at Pencey than they do at any other school.2004February 15,Colin Brown, “Council tax to be replaced by new levy on incomes”, inThe Daily Telegraph‎[2], London:Telegraph Media Group,→ISSN,→OCLC, archived fromthe originalon1 March 2016:One ally of the Deputy Prime Minister said: "This is blue-sky thinking, but it is strictlyfor the birds. It is going to cost billions."2015June 14, “Saints, Pelicans owner Tom Benson confident as trial closes”, inESPN‎[3], archived fromthe originalon1 April 2016:New Orleans Saints and Pelicans ownerTom Bensonexpressed confidence on his way out of the courtroom Friday as the eight-day trial to determine his mental competency came to a close.[…]When asked if the trial has taken a lot out of him, Benson said, "Ahh, no, man. You know, it's not fun, it's not any fun. To have your kids turn against you, that'sfor the birds."

Examples:

EN: The prima donnas are taking an airing- giving a concert for the birds- while we stay at home and slave for him.
ES: Los divos salieron a orearse... a darles un concierto a las aves... mientras nosotras nos quedamos trabajando como burras para él.
EN: - Yes, for the birds.
ES: Sí.
EN: No matter how big the city, there must always be parks... and places for the birds to live.
ES: No importa cuán grande sea la ciudad, siempre debe haber parques y lugares para que los pájaros vivan.
EN: Take in these mugs and plates to be washed and throw those crumbs about for the birds.
ES: Lava estos platos y tazas y echa las migas a los pájaros.
EN: It's for the birds.
ES: Es para los pájaros.
EN: My father was a man who'd sprinkle bread crumbs in the window sill every morning, ...for the birds.
ES: Mi padre dejaba migas de pan en la ventana todas las mañanas, para los pájaros.
EN: This is strictly for the birds, brother.
ES: Esto es inútil, hermano.
EN: You're something for the birds, Rosa.
ES: Tú estás hecha para los pájaros, Rosa.
ES: Eres algo para los pájaros, Rosa.
EN: Something for the birds.
ES: Para los pájaros.
EN: Aw, that's for the birds.
ES: ¡Para los pájaros!
EN: I put crusts there for the birds.
ES: Lo pongo ahí para los pájaros.
EN: That's your squad. Well, they're for the birds.
ES: Son unos inútiles.
EN: Ricochet's for the birds.
ES: No, eso es una estupidez.
EN: I'm a bachelor, but going in this low is strictly for the birds.
ES: Soy soltero, pero ir a esta altura es sólo para aves.
EN: - He wants to show you the mechanism for the birds.
ES: - Que si quiere, le enseñará el mecanismo de los pájaros.

Note: the examples for non latin scripts have a high likelihood of mistakes, we do not own any of this data and it is sourced from Wiktionary, the NLLB database and Opensubtitles. Please help us improve this by contributing correct examples. We will be working to fix this issue over time however it is a bigger issue due to the the difficulties in dealing with non latin scripts and grammatical structures(non-romantic/european languages have lower resources as well ).