catbird的意思

catbird

英 ['kætbɜːd] 美 ['kæt,bɝd]

catbird (n.): 1731, common name for the North American thrush (Dumetella Carolinensis), so called from its warning cry, which resembles that of a cat; from cat (n.) + bird (n.1). Catbird seat is a 19c. Dixieism, popularized by Brooklyn Dodgers baseball announcer Red Barber and by author James Thurber (1942).
"She must be a Dodger fan," he had said. "Red Barber announces the Dodger games over the radio and he uses those expressions--picked 'em up down South." Joey had gone on to explain one or two. "Tearing up the pea patch" meant going on a rampage; "sitting in the catbird seat" means sitting pretty, like a batter with three balls and no strikes on him. [James Thurber, "The Catbird Seat," "The New Yorker," Nov. 14, 1942]

1. If he had not been hurt, his team would be sitting in the catbird seat.: 要是他没有受伤的话，他的球队会处于非常有利的地位。

2. Even from the first, the words went wrong , the catbird pecked away the nightingale.: 一开始字里行间就漏洞百出, 猫声鸟居然把夜莺啄得铩羽而归.