what is meant by "canary in a gold mine"?

Question

Could anyone please be so kind as to explain what that phrase is meant to say? I keep running into that expression recently but have absolutely no idea what the speaker was saying? I can't recall a specific context in which it was used either. Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Back before people had stricter safety regulations and better methods of measuring the levels of toxic gas in mines, miners took canaries with them into mines because the birds were very sensitive to the pockets of poisonous gases they encountered while mining. If the canary died, there was toxic gas present, and the miners were able to escape from the area before they succumbed to the gas.

Therefore, the expression "miner's canary" refers to the demise of something that serves as a warning of potential danger to others.

Answer 2

It should be canary in a coal mine. From the practice of taking a caged bird down into such a mine. If the air got bad the bird would be affected (pass out, die, whatever) and the miners would know to get out. By extension it is now used to denote an early indicator of something bad going on. So declining polar bear numbers are the canary in the coal mine for global warming in the arctic, that kind of thing.

Answer 3

Canary in a gold mine refers to the Gold Rush in California and the Silver Rush in Nevada. Miners would take canaries in cages down into the mines with them. Their purpose was to serve as a warning about toxic gas that wasn't visible.

Miners would periodically check on the canary, if the canary was chirping then all was good, but if the canary was lethargic, then they knew that there was gas fumes in the mines that were fatal and they would leave.

Answer 4

May not be speciffically a gold mine........Years ago, real miners used to carry canaries in cages with them. The canaries were very sensitive to good breathable are or bad air. If the air got bad, the canary died which told the miner to get out.

Answer 5

Miners used to put canaries into mines and leave them there for a while. When they came back, if the canary was still alive, then they knew they could breathe the air.

So, a canary in a gold mine would be the tester. The one who makes sure things are safe for others.

Answer 6

It is usually a "canary in a coal mine"
but it refers to anything that is used to signal danger ahead of time.
The canary would die quickly of toxic gas, so if the canary was sick, the miners would get out as soon as possible.
A modern example of the "canary in a coal mine" would be frogs. Frogs are very fragile and die easily when there is pollution. So frogs are like "the canary in the coal mine" for environmental damage. They are a warning that the environment is in danger.

Answer 7

Canaries are more susceptible to poisonous gas, so miners used to carry them into mines with them. If the bird died, they got out of there fast, as it meant poisonous gas was leaking into the mine. "Canary in a gold mine" refers to that practice.

Answer 8

There is this poem you reminded me of by Robert Frost Nature's first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf's a flower; But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf. So Eden sank to grief, So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay. Them poem means nothing stays the same for ever

Answer 9

Goldmine Definition

Answer 10

coal mine
they used to do this to find out when the air supply was exhausted. the canary would die and it was time for the miners to leave as they would be next.