> For all the talk of "bird," I don't think anyone
mentioned the
(other?)
> hard-boiled meaning: in jail/prison, doing time,
stir. British,
maybe.
> "You'll be doing bird," something like
that.
Yes, it's a Brit expression & you're right about it's
meaning. (We get lots of UK television shows down here,
mainly courtesy of the ABC, the antipodean cousin of the BBC.
The ABC is even referred to as "Aunty", which I understand is
what people in the UK call the BBC). (Oh, and
"bird" was a slang expression for "woman" in common usage in
Oz, as well as the UK, when I was a young chap but it's all
but disappeared these days. Most old time Aussie slang is
disappearing & being replaced by US expressions, which is
a real shame. Australia has a wonderful, very colourful
"slanguage" all it's own, although it did used to share the
Cockney predeliction for rhyming slang earlier in the
C20th.
Rene
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