Yardbird

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Slang for a chicken or other domestic fowl ; a raw recruit undergoing basic military training ; a convict serving time behind bars in a prison
2. A chicken, especially one kept or eaten as food ; a newly enlisted soldier or sailor in basic training ; an inmate confined in a penitentiary
3. Informal name for a hen or other domestic bird ; a green trainee in the armed forces ; a prisoner locked up in a jail

Etymology: Yardbird is a plain compound of "yard" and "bird", but its meanings took an unexpected path. The "bird" half is not a feathered creature at all: in American slang, "bird" has long been a loose word for a person, and the "yard" is the prison exercise yard, so the combination first named a convict. It is attested in that sense from 1956, and the image is simply the prisoner confined to the yard. Twelve years earlier, the word had already gone in a different direction. During the Second World War, it was used in the armed forces for a basic trainee, the raw recruit who had not yet been sent anywhere useful. The shift from a jailed man to a newly enlisted one may look odd, but both were people kept in a confined space under strict orders, which is probably why the same compound could serve both settings.

Synonyms: recruit, convict, rookie

Antonyms: veteran, civilian