# Naked as a jay bird? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 19, 2005, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naked-as-a-jay-bird/295360 "2005-03-19T22:13:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Captain\_Gutgore\_Blooddrink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Captain\_Gutgore\_Blooddrink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Gutgore_Blooddrink)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naked-as-a-jay-bird/295360/1 "2005-03-19T22:13:26Z")
All right, I did a search and didn’t find anything. So, where did the term come from? (If my searching skills suck, please, feel free to enlighten me as to what I did wrong in finding this) Your pal, Capn’ GG BD ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naked-as-a-jay-bird/295360/2 "2005-03-19T22:28:29Z")
Ever seen a baby bluejay? ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naked-as-a-jay-bird/295360/3 "2005-03-19T22:33:37Z")
Good pic [here](http://www.mortalwombat.com/Image/babybirds.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2005, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naked-as-a-jay-bird/295360/4 "2005-03-19T23:43:34Z")
There was a British expression—“Naked as a robin” in the 19th century. I’ve found the “naked as a Jay-bird” in the US from 1909. MY best sources can’t seem to find a reason for the expression. I’ll keep working on it. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naked-as-a-jay-bird/295360/5 "2005-03-20T00:42:29Z")
Really, the expression works with _any_ bird, except possibly for hummingbirds, which sometimes wear tiny spats. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naked-as-a-jay-bird/295360/6 "2005-03-20T01:43:26Z")
[The Word Detective](http://www.word-detective.com/042601.html#jaybird) says: > [@](#): > > Just where the phrase “naked as a jaybird” came from is, however, a mystery. It has been in fairly common usage since the middle of the 20th century, and seems to be American in origin. Why blue jays, which are modestly covered with feathers, should have become symbols of stark nudity is anyone’s guess. The English have a similar phrase, “naked as a robin,” but that doesn’t seem to make any sense either. > > I suppose it is possible that “naked as a jaybird” is related somehow to the use of “jay” in the 19th century for a hick or rube recently arrived in the city. This “jay” underlies our term “jaywalk,” meaning to cross the street in the middle of the block or in some other unorthodox fashion, supposedly as one unaccustomed to urban traffic rules might. > > In any case, since we’re reduced to guessing, here’s mine. There are few birds more blatantly obvious than the male blue jay. Not only is Mr. Jay bright blue, not a common color for animals of any ilk, but he is also usually the loudest and most obnoxious bird in any given tree. As a symbol of that which is flamboyantly obvious, the blue jay takes the cake. “Naked as a jaybird,” therefore, might just be a colorful way of saying “blatantly and obviously completely naked.” ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naked-as-a-jay-bird/295360/7 "2005-03-20T01:55:43Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > Really, the expression works with _any_ bird, except possibly for hummingbirds, which sometimes wear tiny spats. Although hummingbirds are highly aggressive and often _have_ spats, they don’t actually wear them. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2005, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/naked-as-a-jay-bird/295360/8 "2005-03-20T03:23:56Z")
Is it pure coincidence that after his acquittal Robert Blake said that he was so broke he couldn’t afford spats for a hummingbird? 😕