Why do people say something "eats like a bird?"?

Question

I don't quite get it because bird eat A LOT in one day.

Answer 1

it's a reference to the fact that birds take small portions at a time when eating. it basically means, a person in question only took a few small portions while sitting down to eat. the allusion has nothing to do with the fact that birds have a very high metabolism and eat a great deal of calories for their species diurnally.

this same question has been around for decades. it was made a famous quote from Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 Psycho film where the main character, Norman Bates, ponders the same question to his eventual victim Janet Leigh.

Answer 2

You make a true observation, birds do eat a lot. But they pick at their food and seem to eat very little unless you watch them all day. What you are quoting is a cliche, a trite phrase which once had some virtue as a statement but has been extremely overused. Some others are "sank like a rock", "between a rock and a hard place", "avoid it/that/him/her like the plague", etc. People use these phrases because they aren't willing to put some thought into what they say and use the eloquence of the English language. "The boat sank quickly" is better than "it sank like a rock". If you do listen to people you will hear many cliches and trite phrases. Perhaps you can think of other ways to say what the person said and learn to improve your own speaking ability.

Answer 3

I think its because birds eat a lot for their body but, people who eat like a bird, only eats as much as a bird eats in a day....which in turn is not very much for a humans body type!!
hope this helps!!

Answer 4

Yeah, I guess you have to be a bird owner to realize that! I thought the same thing.

The only thing I can figure is that, even though birds actually eat a lot, they also make quite a mess. Seeds all over the place, food everywhere from when they shake their beaks or flap their wings, and our parrot even intentionally throws food down for the dog, marveling at how she eats it up. (We have to watch him any time we give him a steak bone or chicken carcass to pick at, both of which he positively LOVES.)

So "eats like a bird" should really mean you eat like a slob. But I suppose the "pig" already claimed credit for that.

Answer 5

Because birds are always observed eating tiny little seeds and things. So when someone doesn't eat much or takes small bites like they're not really hungry, or is known not to have a big appetite the saying came about "she eats like a bird".

Answer 6

lol my parents used to tell me that when I was a kid. It's because birds peck at the ground, making it appear as if they are picking at it and only taking small amounts here and there. When I was a kid I'd pick certain things out of my food and I was very picky like I hated eating the veins in chicken etc and lima beans. So I pciked around my plate. See the resemblance?

Answer 7

Birds eat small amounts and eat them very frequently. Reason being......because of their high metabolic rates, birds must consume more food in proportion to their size than most animals.

Answer 8

Compared to what humans eat, bird food consumption is minimal....thus the saying!

Answer 9

Because they eat little amounts at a time, so it doesn't look like they're eating much! Trouble is, they eat all day long so yes, they do eat a lot in one day! :)

Answer 10

hi I drink Orange Juiceeeee, each and all of the three are distinctive events. Swallowing is basically deliver the foodstuff stuff devoid of biting or maybe no longer permitting to drench interior of saliva. yet ingesting is permitting the liquid to fill the mouth and permitting to circulate by way of throat ingesting is observed with biting, smashing, rolling, crushing etc etc and making right into a liquid form using saliva and then we deliver by way of throat. So superb way of taking foodstuff is to drink foodstuff and consume the liquid. basically think of approximately it expensive