sparrow-fart

Английский Язык - Английский Язык

Определение sparrow-fart в Английский Язык Английский Язык словарь

Very early in the day; dawn

Этимология

() Has the folk etymology of being the time of day when the birds (including sparrows) first wake up, and presumably fart. It has sometimes been thought to have originally been an Australian expression, and 'A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English' by Eric Partridge and Paul Beale does list sparrow's crow as an Australian euphemism. They list sparrow-fart as both daybreak, in colloquial use since before 1910, and popularised during WWI. Also as used in James Joyce's Ulysses meaning an inconsequential person. It is included in Carr's Craven Dialect (1828) as from Yorkshire, with the definition given as 'break of day', according to Nigel Rees in 'A Word In Your Shell-like'. Probably originates from an incorrect translation from the Urdu sawayray, meaning early, as used by members of the British Army since time immemorial.