Drongo

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A bird species native to Australasia known for its slender body and forked tail ; a slang term for someone considered foolish, inept, or unsuccessful
2. A bird found mainly in Australia with distinctive glossy plumage and a rigid flight ; an informal label for a person who is seen as lacking intelligence or skill
3. A species of bird belonging to the family Dicruridae, noted for agile flight and aggressive behavior ; a derogatory expression used to describe a person who performs poorly or acts stupidly

Etymology: The bird came first. The drongo is a songbird of the family Dicruridae, found mainly in Australia, with glossy black plumage and a forked tail, and the word itself was carried in from Madagascar, where the Malagasy language uses "drongo" for a related bird. Its modern insult sense is a different story, and it runs through a racehorse. An Australian racehorse named Drongo, foaled in 1920 and retired in 1925, never won a race. Named after the spangled drongo, it became a byword for failure, and anyone slow-witted or clumsy began to be called a drongo by transference. The link is the horse's record, not any quality of the bird. Some accounts instead suggest the slang came from RAAF recruits, who were called drongos, also after the bird. A further, less likely proposal links it to the Scottish Gaelic "drongair," meaning "drunkard."