This unique Andy Griffith catchphrase has stumped experts on the English language

This figure of speech truly is a rare bird.
#theandygriffithshow #andygriffith #catchphrases #catchphrase #bird #world #nipitinthebud #shazam #golly #surpisesurprisesurprise #donknotts #barneyfife #jimnabors #gomerpyle #baffled #mayberry #tags
source: metv

[@timboslice1979]

I like his phrase "You beat everything you know that?".

[@DennisMSulliva]

Oh. I was going to say that.

[@einy2crikey]

Yeah boy! :~)

[@professorwiggins3290]

My grandma, born in 1911, used to say, "Don't that beat all?"

[@gwiyomikim5988]

I always liked his phase “it’s a real wooly booger”. But what’s it all about?🤔

[@patrickbodine1300]

"You beat everything I ever stepped in."

[@lugnut440]

It is a local phrase from western NC and south western VA from a bygone era. Both of my grandmothers said it along with "great day in the morning" when describing something surprising or unusual. They also described a strange or unusual person as "curious". Ive seen that on the show as well. "A bird in this world" was directed at me when I was a child when I would misbehave or do something strange in their eyes. As neither of my grandmothers used foul language, Im assuming that was as close as they came to cursing me out!! I truly miss them and their old ways.

[@Edmond951]

Here in Ohio people who are perceived to be from Appalachian dissent are referred to as, 'Briar Hoppers' with the Briar part being pronounced 'Brarr' as Briar Patches are commonly found in that region. Now my Grandpa, who was from Kentucky and moved here in 1931 told me that he never met a 'Brarr'' until he moved to Ohio! Lol

[@JoeBorrello]

“Bird in this world” may not be foul language, but it is fowl language. 🤪

[@marshmutt8975]

I had some older relatives that called someone a "curious queer fella" meaning only he was very odd.

[@patrickdaly5068]

@@Edmond951Oh, that can’t be true. I’m from Kentucky, and I remember one of my uncles (my mom and her siblings grew up in the country on a farm) joking about how we “Arn the clothes” and hearing someone say “I maished the far outta my fangers!” Maybe it depends on what part of Kentucky you’re from. 😀 Some folks in Tennessee pronounce it that way too. Thanks for sparking a memory for me!

[@LazyIRanch]

My mom and her siblings had so many funny catchphrases, I figure it came from them growing up in a Texas orphanage during the Great Depression. I wish I had written them all down. If we kids were being silly and spazzing out, she said we were "cutting a dido". My aunt would exclaim, "Did'-ee-kiy!" when surprised, but Mom would say, "I say, Miss Johnson!". I never did find out who "Miss Johnson" was. Not Ladybird, because Mom was using that phrase long before she was First Lady. Dolly, an old black woman and friend of our family would say, "My Lands!" or "LAWZ!" I loved her answer to almost anything one asked her; "Purty good!", and we adopted her sweetly positive phrase to use ironically, when things WEREN'T going well. Dolly was born in the 1890s, and I wish I could have known her longer. She was old when I was little. My dad used to tell us funny things his E. Texas grandmother would say (she died long before I was born in 1961). My favorite was, "Chile, your tongue will be happy when your head's cold!". She said that to folks who talked too much. Many Southernisms had to do with a person's appearance, such as a buck-toothed individual could "eat corn through a picket fence". When my ex-husband's grandmother saw our baby, her great-grandson for the first time, she exclaimed, "Lordy! He looks like a taxicab with both doors open!" I laughed so hard I hurt! She wasn't wrong! Thankfully, he grew into his ears. She was a "hoot and a half", as my mom used to say.

[@05645ci]

When i was growing up in Duplin County NC in the 50's and 60's, folks were exceedingly polite, particularly the ladies; otherwise you were seen as having poor social skills, and from a lower class family. This was explained to me by my paternal grandmother. Post the War between the States, the Southern elites and upper middle and educated class were reduced to poverty along with everyone else by and large. Those family matriarchs sternly enforced proper English and etiquette to their children so that their bearing would be immediately apparent to anyone they met. A lady might choose to say " you're a bird in this world" as a nice way of saying "you're crazy". In the same sense, "bless your heart" can mean genuine thanks, or shove it. My grandmother would always correct my English, and would not allow the word "ain't". Ever.

[@LazyIRanch]

I grew up in Texas, my mom was born in 1920, and she taught us to have impeccable manners in _all_ situations. She explained that in case we ever get invited to dine at the White House, she didn't want us to embarrass her! She didn't approve of LBJ's coarse language, but she loved Lady Bird Johnson for her gentle, polite ways and her love of nature and our beautiful Texas. I sure do miss politeness. Momma taught us that it's impolite to talk about religion and/or politics because it would lead to arguments and hard feelings. I still adhere to that, but I feel alone these days.

[@trudymeans3520]

When I went to college in the early 1980's I went to dinner at a classmate's upper class home. My friend's mother commented on my good manners. She said that she was surprised since my friend had described me as coming from a "poor Southern family". (Which was true.) I explained to her that I was raised by my grandmother to understand that while "The War" may have made us fall into poverty, I should always remember that people could tell that I was a lady by the fact that I had good manners and (hopefully) real pearls. ;-)

[@pennyburkeen4377]

I grew up in north Louisiana. My grandmother said someone was “a bird” when she considered them odd or maybe acceptably uncouth. She would probably say that Goober was “a bird.”

[@brianjones7660]

bless your heart.....genuine thanks. bless your DARLING heart.... is an insult.🤭

[@nickroberts-xf7oq]

Duplin wine 🍷👌 🏆 ❤️

[@garymcadams8328]

As a native North Carolinian, I am proud of the fact that we use unique colloquialism of our own making.

[@senator558]

Every region does.

[@garymcadams8328]

@@senator558 indeed, I think that we’re more colorful and imaginative.😎

[@senator558]

@@garymcadams8328 Ahem. Again, every region does. 😉

[@garymcadams8328]

@@senator558 oh. I heard ya. Now we’re talking quality.🤡

[@pennybourban3712]

@@senator558 I think it is more true in regions that have been isolated. Mountaintops and islands, for example.

[@eudaenomic]

Gotta remember, Andy Griffith was a comedian and I remember him explaining football.

[@LazyIRanch]

"What It Was, Was Football" A classic comedy routine!

[@stephenater9687]

Flip side was Romeo and Juliet.

[@clasicradiolover]

@@eudaenomic I love that skit

[@davesnowjonesboro]

I still have the 45 RPM record of that monologue!

[@LazyIRanch]

@@stephenater9687 "Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" "I'm right hyar!" 😂🤣 His take on "Hamlet" is hilarious, too!

[@TheAzmountaineer]

Heard it when I was kid, but not for many years. I always thought it meant something like 'you are one of a kind!'

[@brianarbenz1329]

Andy would say the "You're a bird in this world" line so softly and quickly, that it would elude fans' attention. I grew up watching every Andy Griffith episode a million times and never noticed the line until online sources started talking about it.

[@stevekeller3643]

Agree. In my late 60’s, so watched as a kid & now frequent repeats while caregiving. Have never heard Andy utter that phrase.

[@elvadrum4965]

I heard ‘he’s a strange bird’ or ‘he’s a strange duck’.

[@ralphharkey3842]

Bob, I have heard this phrase all of my life. Both my mom and dad used it. My parents were from the depression era so, I am pretty sure that it is a colloquial phrase from rural NC where I grew up.

[@rhvoriginals3083]

The meaning is the same as calling someone a rare or odd bird. That expression dates back to Ancient Greece. Barney truly was a rarity.

[@Dianewill1970]

I’m a 6th generation, North Carolinian (we’ve been here a long time 😂). I grew up hearing my grandmother use the phrase “he is a cat-bird” when someone did something unusual. Maybe it’s a take on that.

[@richardowens9061]

I think "cat bird" is a euphemism for a Blue Jay - the only bird I know of that will attack cats. And, they're ubiquitous in the South. I can see the term "cat bird" being applied to someone who is easily obsessed with someone or something.

[@David-yw2lv]

​@@richardowens9061I always heard in the cat bird's seat here in Southeast Texas .

[@richardowens9061]

@@David-yw2lv That is an interesting euphemism. But, it refers to someone in an enviable or advantageous position - so, it does not fit the context in which Andy uses the phrase, "a bird in this world."

[@WoefulMinion]

@@richardowens9061 That makes sense. It would certainly be an odd bird that attacked a cat rather than the other way around.

[@mikemaricle9941]

Folks around here would say "he's an odd duck."

[@WillWilsonII]

I moved to NC 5 years ago and I still laugh when people say "Let's don't do that just now"

[@LazyIRanch]

I grew up in Texas and have a very y'ally drawl. I didn't realize that I repeat certain phrases so much, that my parrot started mimicking me. Apparently, I say "Not right now" a LOT, because I hear it from my little bird and he sounds just like me!

[@Thestargazer56]

I am from eastern NC & recall being on a flight from Chicago to Grand Rapids (circa 1983) and struck up a conversation with some locals. I asked them to guess where I was from based on my accent. He and several others guessed Texas. Howdy neighbor!

[@danielking2944]

Seems like a variation of “he’s a rare bird” that is,he hears a different drummer,he sees things differently,etc.

[@hrearden6993]

Or maybe he is calling him cuckoo Cuckoo bird.

[@anvilsbane]

Locally we say” he’s a funny duck”.

[@heidimeigs5192]

Makes logical sense. 👍🏻

[@johndoe-ln4oi]

We lived in a much more polite time during that era. This was especially true on TV, and in the South. I had always assumed that Andy's phrase was a cleaned-up version of calling someone a strange bird. It would have been very insulting back then to refer to a friend or a loved one as a strange bird.

[@johnkendall6558]

both my grandmothers said this, meaning someone was strange

[@sammyparrish8884]

A similar line was used in lawless by forest doundurant . We are but a bird in the sky , that bird don’t know the world is changing around him. Or something like that.

[@HowellHudson]

"Bird" by Billie Marten:You are a bird in this world Not a bird that's been heard But a bird that was said to be heard by my earsIt doesn't matter how old You say you are We don't come very far to be right here So when you say you're leaving You take away the meaning I know it's been deceiving For so longYou are a bird in this world Not a bird that's been heard But a bird that was said to be heard by my ears By my earsAnd it doesn't matter how old You say you are We don't come very far to be right here So when you say you're leaving You take away the meaning I know it's been deceiving For so longYou are a bird in this world Not a bird that's been heard But a bird that was said to be heard by my ears

[@HowellHudson]

This is a new song not the source. But maybe it's interesting. My great grandmother, grandmother, and mother (who is 93) used to say rhetorically, "Why, isn't she a bird?!" This was the early 1960s in the NW Georgia Appalachian foothills. Half or more of my folks are from Cabarrus County. We were Presbyterians who knew how to drink whisky, say God damnit when felt necessary, but no truly God fearing person would think of wearing such things as mini-skirts, go-go boots, and wild hippy colors. Why? Cause you'd look like a damn bird. Also, keep in mind that North Carolina was settled by the British. Andy Griffith played Sir Walter Raleigh in the Roanoke Settlement. The slang use of the word "bird" to refer to a woman in British English has an interesting etymology. It appears to have evolved from the older English word "burd," which was used in medieval English literature to mean a young woman or a maiden. The term "burd" itself originates from the Old English "brȳd," which means "bride."Over time, "burd" transformed into "bird" in colloquial usage. This linguistic shift likely occurred during the late 19th to early 20th centuries. By the mid-20th century, "bird" had become widely recognized in British slang as a casual or affectionate term for a young woman.The transformation from "burd" to "bird" showcases the fluidity of language and how phonetic similarities can lead to changes in word forms and meanings over centuries.

[@TexRenner]

I have repeated the expression, "lost as a goose", and had people get offended and tell me how smart geese are and how they would never get lost. To my mind it was just an old timey thing I had grown up hearing.

[@LazyIRanch]

You're right, it's just a funny saying. My Momma would say, "You ain't got sense God gave a goosey gander!" She grew up very poor, her widowed mother was biracial and had lots of children, so their life was hard in 1920s Oklahoma. In 1932, their mother died of tuberculosis, and my mother and some of her siblings went to live at an orphanage in Ft. Worth, Texas. Momma described their poverty as being "poorer than Job's turkey". She and her siblings had so many funny expressions. I miss them all so much! Their mother had no money for gifts for her children, but she gave them a treasure anyway. She taught them to sing in 4-part harmony; every song she knew, from 19th century murder ballads, to Gospel, to 1920s jazz and novelty songs. At our family reunions, after supper we'd gather under the old oak trees and they would sing for us and tell stories. I wish someone had recorded them. Those memories will die with me and my cousins.

[@karinwolf3645]

Now you're making me cry thinking about my childhood going to family reunions and singing three part harmony with my sisters. All of them but one of my sisters are gone now, or I just don't know where they are. I still sing with my sister when we visit. 😻🍹👵🐺🌵

[@user-fu1kx7sj1x]

I have heard Andy say to Barney, you are a bird 🐦 in this world 🌎. And he has said that phrase to Aunt Bee 🐝. Good video bob

[@stivendog]

My Grandpa used to say "quicker than you can say Jack Robinson". I never did find out who Jack Robinson was.

[@davidkriner3799]

Nursery rhyme, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack jumped over the candlestick. 😂

[@Citizen-pg8eu]

Maybe referred to #42, Jackie Robinson? He was a generation changing phenomenon, super fast.

[@LazyIRanch]

@@Citizen-pg8eu That sounds likely!

[@marlenepearson3936]

Maybe it was a nice way to say odd duck? Or goonie bird, or something. I never thought about it. 😂

[@ModestNeophyte]

this is reminding me how my dad (1943-2009) used to say "rurned" instead of "ruined" lol and also how my dads old best friend from northeast georgia once asked him "you got 'ere a garden this year?" lol

[@57highland]

I've always like "You beat everything!" When Barney did something stupid (which occurred about every other epusode), Andy would get irritated and shout, *"You beat everything, Barney!"*

[@RocketKirchner]

That one is used a lot !

[@57highland]

@@RocketKirchner And it was not over-used on the AGS. Andy used it only when Barney did something really wacky. And I think Barney even used it on Andy a few times!

[@majorpayne608]

It is originally "You are an rare bird in this world". To make it less offensive and shortened some say "You are a bird in this world". Also, some say strange or odd rather than rare. Variations are shortened to "You sure are a rare bird". I heard this a lot growing up in the 60s. Hah! I think people today are just more direct and offensive and say "You're weird".

[@user-im9jc8fi6h]

I was curious about this catch phrase myself so I looked it up and like someone else said, it meant one of a kind. Thanks Bob.

[@suburbohemian]

Just always thought it was the local way to say, "You're a strange bird" without actually directly calling them 'strange'.

[@FLStelth]

I heard "bird" being used in old movies as a substitute for a disreputable or weird guy: i.e. "I don't trust that bird." I think Andy based it on that. I have always noticed Andy's use of "well" (pronounced way-ell). He usually said it when he objected to something but didn't want to press the issue. Like if Aunt Bee or Barney made a stupid suggestion or voiced an opinion Andy didn't like.

[@AmosPressley]

I have never heard "bird in this world," but I have heard a similar use of "bird." When I was a kid in the sixties, I helped an elderly lady and stayed at her house at night. She would call someone a "bird" if they were doing something odd, or if they were proud of some nonsense they did. For example, she would tell about her husband and her: "I was riding by "Skeet's" with Toby, headed downtown. There was a feller riding a bicycle in a fancy purple suit and a big, broad-brimmed hat. On top of all that, he had a feather boa around his neck! I pointed him out to Tob' and said, "Take a look at THAT "bird" on the bicycle! What's HE trying to prove?"" What can I say? It was a small town like Mayberry, almost sixty years ago, and she was telling about something that took place around twenty years prior. When some "bird" went through town doing something that "beat all I ever seen," it makes an impression!

[@Dwayne-mb2uj]

My Dad would say that God sent Jesus to live in this world like a bird sent down from above as a messenger among us..My Dad was from the Mountains in Tenn. I guess you would say he was a hillbilly except he tried very hard to not be seen as one.

[@stormyweather9209]

I always figured it was Andy's personal take on the phrase "rare bird", meaning a unique person.

[@richardowens9061]

Yes, that would fit the context in which he uses the phrase, "a bird in this world."

[@FleetwoodTheProfit]

More or less...

[@verizonphonetest6407]

Exactly

[@67Dot]

So what you're saying is... they tried to "do some studying on it" so they could "nip it in the bud", but sadly they "pert-near" drove themselves crazy.

[@stevebutler8387]

Loved in episode 1/1 when Andy tells Opie to give Aunt Bee s kiss. He says"give her some good".

[@rickybrogden898]

He said "Give Aunt Bee some sugar" which means a kiss!

[@justaman5490]

Matthew 6: 26 "Look at the birds in the air. They don't plant or harvest or store food in barns, but your heavenly Father feeds them. And you know that you are worth much more than the birds. 27 You cannot add any time to your life by worrying about it." So, If you fret of this world, you are of this world and serve this world. Making you "a bird in this world" He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

[@WarDog793]

What a curious phrase. I'd completely forgotten that. Maybe I hadn't heard it as often on _The Andy Griffith Show,_ which I grew up on. Always liked that down-home sitcom, which didn't lampoon people living in small town America. Hated _Green Acres_ by comparison.

[@LazyIRanch]

I agree! I didn't like the mean-spirited "Green Acres" either. If I had to choose one sitcom to live in real life, it would be the "Andy Griffith Show". I want to learn how to cook from Aunt Bea, and I want to go fishing with Andy and Opie. I want to sit on the porch after supper, and sing along with Andy strumming his guitar.

[@327DD]

I grew up not too far from Mount Airy, and i have heard people call someone a strange bird many times. Maybe that is where Andy got his phase from.

[@greggbaker7120]

Being from the fringe of the Appalachians, I find, many of the words and phrases, that, I have always used, to be attributed to there... though, other regions use them also

[@sgmsmiles]

My grandmother from eastern NC used to say it all the time.

[@maggiegarber246]

My grandmother, born in Kansas in 1887, had 2 sayings I have never heard from anyone else: “my stars a land o’living” and “you’re a big hullik”. I have never found a similar word in dictionaries.

[@texas66]

This is a shortened phrase so that it doesn't sound quite so disparaging. Originally "you are a unique bird in this world" when a person doesn't react or understand something in a way most people would.

[@ToddDolce]

I always thought it was a nice way of saying "Cuckoo" as in "Cuckoo Bird".

[@oldschooldiy3240]

My family used to use it in the Tennessee Appalachian mountains, and it was a take on someone being "flighty" or "quirky"....

[@j.l.327]

The one i always liked was "poorer than Jobs turkey", but i use a phrase alot from TAGS that we all know, and i use it for many things......"poor Horatio"

[@gedren_y8775]

I always found "poor Horatio" to be one of the odder conflations of that infamous line from Hamlet. There is such a better line in that play to draw from. "There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy." It gets such great use by Christopher Stasheff when he has a character say it to a ghost named Horatio when talking about an epileptic computer brain in a robot horse body. I like to say, "Don't be a Horatio."

[@j.l.327]

@@gedren_y8775 i never read much of any of Shakespeare or other playwriters, but i'll take your word on that matter

[@marksnyder6120]

Great trivia!! Thanks.

[@FleetwoodTheProfit]

He made it up. It was his way of saying he felt a person or character did something odd or amusingly unexpected. Like watching a bird strutting around, kind of.

[@themarlboromandalorian]

A burden'[in] this world. Barney ain't easy to stomach sometimes.

[@TheMarinemom02]

“Tick a lock”…”Go out and BE SOMEBODY”…. “Yeah Boy”….”You beat everything”….❤😂❤

[@dannyhughes4177]

I grew up in North GA and love all the colorful colloquialisms like that. Many of them were just used in a small community or just a particular family. I've never heard that particular saying that Andy used, but hundreds of times heard someone say, "he sure is a bird".

[@q.d.mcgraw]

Flighty, Barney is flighty, a bird in this world.

[@illbeyourmonster1959]

*"A bird in a swirl"* alludes to a bird being caught in a whirlwind going in circles with no way out.

[@thisbushnell2012]

A phrase my grandma used that makes no sense, but in old southern Danville Virginia accent is pure poetry: "If oughts was quarts, they'd be mo' gallons." But we all knew what it meant. In today's jargon, it's basically 'Quitcherbitchin.' Or older: 'You can't fight City Hall.'

[@michaelpage1796]

My father is from Ruffin N.C.and I know that accent you are referring to very well. My grandfather used to say “sh*t fire and save matches “ in that accent.

[@stevehammett2008]

A similar, more popular, phrase is: If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.

[@epicnamepwns1242]

I find that phrase quite sensible. "Oughts" are should do's, quarts and gallons are volume units primarily used for food and drinks. It's also similar to "if I had a nickel for..."

[@sugarnads]

If wishes were dollars id be a millionaire. Same thing. Different object.

[@pbstinebiz2459]

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.

[@woodymallory9058]

It means "you are a strange person"

[@mymix1880]

Interesting video. Phrases can catch people off guard. I liked Don Knotts nip it in the bud. Always thank you Bob. Praying for you 🙏 Melanie

[@daccrowell4776]

You're looking for an Appalachian phrase, but the origin is probably MUCH older. In the area where Andy Griffith came from, the Southern Appalachians, there are a LOT of linguistic quirks that actually originated in Elizabethan England. My bet is that this phrase originates in some of that. It could also be a common phrase (or source of a phrase) in the Scottish lowlands and the Borderlands, since there was a big influx of new settlers in the Southern Appalachians that came over both before and after Culloden. That's actually where my maternal grandfather's family came from c. 1730, first settling in the NC Tidewater before moving to "Western North Carolina" and founding the town of Pasquotank. These days, people around Nashville know it as just "Pasquo", but it actually predates Nashville, having been founded around the end of the 1740s. But yeah...a LOT of Southernisms originate from settlers from Europe, and are still around due to their origins not being from part of the "landed" settlers, where "proper" English was the norm. And it wasn't just English...another fork of my family comes out of the French Huguenots fleeing persecution by the Catholic Church and the French crown. No phrases that I can think of, but they did influence a lot of the grammatical aspects in the same region. How do I know this? Some of it is family lore...but this was gradually uncovered in parallel by musicological researchers investigating the origins of the folk songs of the Southern Appalachian region. The song "Wildwood Flower" provides an interesting look at this. Since I work as a composer AND grew up in Tennessee, I became aware of the musical linkages during my undergrad studies. Another good source of that "cultural drift" are the numerous studies done on the collection of Appalachian songs known as the "Child Ballads" after the collector who first notated them. In that case, the material had more of a chance to spread across settler demographics, staying more intact than one sees with the linguistic elements.

[@57highland]

Another country expression is "truck." When you don't have much association or contact with a particular person, you say, "I never had much truck with so and so."

[@Revolver1701]

Yep. 👍

[@ChelleLlewes]

Well, I can help you with that one: one of the old definitions for truck was in the nature of having some kind of relationship or business with someone. "I didn't have anything to do with him," is how that might translate.

[@brokendad2222]

No truck with --- no business with

[@geraldprivette9124]

@@brokendad2222 In Shakespere's Midsummer Nights Dream Puck said "I've no truck with you" .

[@dcaa62817]

In a few episodes, I hear Andy say "that's a time." I guess it means good job. I've never heard anybody else say that.

[@chrislambert1309]

My grandfather would day that, though I believe it was actually 'that's the time' meaning something good.

[@ralphhunter3869]

My family has strong Appalachian roots, and I grew up hearing "he's a bird" or "she's a bird" all the time... just not the "in this world" part... always meant that they were "really something"....

[@kennethbrown5164]

I've heard "rare bird" used referring to a unique or strange person.

[@galewollenberg786]

A bird in this world is a southern variation of a bird in hand is worth 2 in the bush.

[@LancePie]

one of my favorites from Gomer was "citizens arrest, citizens arrest"

[@user-io5ej6lr9s]

Glad i watched. All these years i thought Andy was saying, " you are a burr, in this world!".

[@tanyahardy5065]

Sometimes Barney could also be a BURR in Andy's britches! 😁kzbin.infogaming/emoji/7ff574f2/emoji_u1f601.png

[@jamesduncan578]

Sometimes that would have made more sense.

[@richardowens9061]

I had always just assumed it was a local colloquialism. Remember, Mayberry is ostensibly modeled after a Southern North Carolina town in the 1940s. Since, that was before my time (born in the 1960s), I assumed it had simply been lost to time. But, you're right - Andy is the only one of the cast who ever said it. It occurs to me that the phrase may be a derivation of the Appalachian term "cat bird" which I think is a euphemism for a Blue Jay - the only kind of bird that I have ever seen that will attack cats. And, they're ubiquitous in the South. I take the term "cat bird" to be a reference to someone who is easily obsessed with someone or something. And, that would fit the context in which Andy uses the phrase, "bird in this world." Thanks for the video, Bob!

[@foresttemple1380]

I've been watching since 1963.. my entire life & I don't recall Andy ever saying that. I must get a box set if that's available.. so I can view anytime. No cable.😢

[@johnbgood52]

Mayberry was actually based on Griffith's real home town of Mt. Airy.

[@MelissaThompson432]

A catbird is...a catbird. They don't make nests; they lay their eggs in the nests of smaller birds, and when the eggs hatch, the bigger catbird hatchlings either starve the others or push them out of the nest, so the poor parent birds end up raising the one murderous changeling instead of their own babies. I learned this because of a James Thurber story, "Sitting in the Catbird Seat," which refers to someone gloating over being in a favorable position they don't deserve. If you haven't read Thurber, you should. He's well worth it.

[@richardowens9061]

@@MelissaThompson432 I am familiar with the colloquialism, "cat bird seat." But, that doesn't fit the context of how, "bird in this world" is used in the show. In both of the instances where the phrase is used, Barney and Aunt Bee are obsessed with something trivial. And, if you have ever seen a Blue Jay attacking a cat, it does appear that the bird is obsessed with the cat.

[@nancyholcombe8030]

The Andy Griffith Show came out around the time the Everly Brothers released the song Birddog. In the song, The Everlys were calling the handsome, sweet-talking, fast moving but not too intelligent boy, Johnny, a bird because he had stolen a girlfriend so easily. Of course, stealing a girlfriend also made him a dog, so he was a birddog! Andy was also a musician who liked the Everly Brothers (maybe knew them by this time?), so I have to wonder if he isn't using the word 'bird' the same way the Everly Brothers did but split its meaning out to cover each person! Basically, he used it to say everything from 'you're cute and fast but not too bright', to 'ok, you're being weird' without offending a soul. Also, like Andy, the Everly Brothers were Appalachian bred, so their sayings may have a better answer.

[@gwiyomikim5988]

Nice analysis. (Thinking about “bird” songs made me think of “Surfin’ Bird” by the Trashmen from 1963. Weird song..totally off topic🥴)

[@hotrodray6802]

Central City Kentucky is the recognized hometown of the Everly Brothers. Parents were from Browne KY. Thats not Appalachian, it's west KY.

[@TheDarkRodent]

My great grandmother from WVA used this phrase.

[@auvet1986]

I’m 64 and I remember my parents and grandparents using this phrase. I live in Alabama but my ancestors are from Roanoke Rapids so maybe it’s a North Carolinaism.

[@petepop4319]

It means your living in your own world

[@Lisaisforgiven100]

My mom’s family from Stuart, Virginia always said “ally law”, like “I’ll be darned”. Of course we still say it

[@terrijaree7371]

You just reminded me of my grandmother. She would say "Al-law!" and even though I was never told, I could tell by the tone that she was amazed at something.

[@MattsBicycleAdventures-bv5xy]

I use, "you beat everything, you're the limit", all the time. I've never heard it used anywhere else. I also like Floyd's, "You're a prince of a man".

[@r.e.tucker3223]

Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett of NPR, "looked in every dictionary and dialect book - they even did a full text search of newspapers." "I don't see this phrase anyplace else," Barnette says. Barrett adds: "I think the people who wrote this show coined this phrase. Or else Andy Griffith himself came up with it." But why? Because it refers to a person's quirky or odd behavior, the two speculate it could be related to the phrases "rare bird" or "odd duck."

[@samdavisjr775]

From Kentucky Tennessee border near Missouri, fan of southern 'sayins '. Never heard that one😂❤

[@MrBracey100]

Half my family is from NC and the other from SC, and Ive never heard that phrase outside of the show.

[@historylover1679]

My grandmother grew up in rural Portsmouth in the tidewater part of southern Va. and she was always saying to me and my cousins (or everybody else) “Well, I declare…” in that southern drawl that is so beautiful!

[@pithyplastics6027]

It was a kind way of telling someone they were being stupid or bird brained. Kind of like "bless your heart" is not really a kind blessing.

[@Mouserjan0222]

I always thought it was short for something else " you are an odd bird Barney" but he just said Bird

[@paulmclaughlin4132]

Thanks Bob for this AGS F & T segment. Good segment on Andy’s “ You are a bird in this world “.

[@travellinmark2745]

So glad to read the comments that recognize the phrase as coming out of the region Andy grew up in. Having been born in a corner of SW Pennsylvania, I can recall so many colloquial phrases that nobody else used. Like, the ethnic colloquialisms that many of grew up with from our immigrant grandparents, it is a shame to see these not preserved.

[@JC-lz2ud]

Mystery solved? According to the Blind pig and the Acorn; bird noun A quaint character, comical or remarkable person. 1939 Hall Coll. Saunook NC He’s a bird. (Bob McClure) 1956 McAtee Some Dial NC 5 = a remarkable person. “He sure is a bird.” 1963 Hooper Unwanted Boy 221 Up Carson Creek above my home, there used to live a man named John Owenby. He lived to be eighty-odd years old. He was about as ornery-looking an old bird as anybody ever saw. Also commonly used in England You can use "A Rare Bird" to describe something or someone that is unique or unusual. It emphasizes the rarity and distinctiveness of the subject. Our beloved Andy is the only one I have ever heard say "you are a bird in this world". I always took it to mean that the person he was talking about was one of a kind, really special and old fashioned. Great video, thanks! 💞

[@timt717]

When saying "can be," Andy always put the emphasis on "can," which I've never heard anywhere else. Example, "Well that's as big deal as CAN be ..." rather than the more common to me "big deal as can BE." Maybe a regional thing.

[@MelissaThompson432]

My parents said "CAN be," and they came from the South, but not piedmont/Appalachia.

[@samuelmoon3051]

I honestly thought this was an SNL skit at the beginning.

[@SquatchStomper]

I have always thought it was you're a unique individual without being insulting, kinda like well bless your heart.

[@garyoldham4449]

You are a bird in the world. I think it means "God will take care of you."

[@seanvogel8067]

That makes sense, and I like it better than my guess. 🙂

[@ToddDolce]

There were a couple other seemingly odd terms AG would use on various episodes that I never could grasp but assumed they were just local expressions. One was where Andy would say, “Right Chere” as a seemingly substitute for “Right Here”? Another was when he would approvingly nod his head and say, ”That’s the time!” One really odd one was when he was commenting to Aunt Bee about the way she was acting so shocked over the loss of an acquaintance when he reasoned that, “Well you know Aunt Bee, I don’t know why you’re carrying on this way when it was a known fact that ”she always did enjoy poor health.” What an odd way to describe that a person was very ill for a big part of their life. I guess it’s like referring to traffic as terrific like in the classic holiday song, “No place like home for the holidays”

[@MelissaThompson432]

The quote has been attributed to Taylor Caldwell, but I believe it is older. She was born in England and it sounds like something a historically notable English person might say. I can only say now that I have read it somewhere before, and it may have been in a memoir, a historical one, like Samuel Johnson's. I just can't call it forth again. Caldwell or Griffith, either one, would have had a literary education that would have included that sort of thing.

[@MelissaThompson432]

Terrific literally means "inspiring terror." We've just made it into something somewhat different. Like awful: it originally meant "inspiring awe."

[@diannekruger8735]

I think "she always did enjoy poor health" meant that she was a hypochondriac, someone who constantly focused on (often minor) health problems and used them for attention and sympathy.

[@MelissaThompson432]

@@diannekruger8735 exactly. It gives them something to do with their time. 😉 I surely had a comment removed. I know my intention was to say what you just said, except you said it better, but I don't see that comment now. Maybe I forgot. 😳🤷

[@jeffreeman9499]

I've used that term my WHOLE LIFE! My grandparents used it. I can't believe this has stumped anyone. 😅

[@markraciborski4289]

Sometimes, southern phases are hidden insults that seem cute. I don't believe the Andy character would use one of those that cuts to the quick with another character. I always thought it meant that you are like a Dr. Seuss bird, or Big Bird, one of a kind that stands out from the flock because of uniqueness. Something you right see flying across the fishing hole, early morn, fishing alone, that no one else is going to believe. Basically, "God bless him, but that boy just ain't right" was too harsh a statement. I do believe Andy came up with it, as I have never heard it, in Virginia, eastern North Carolina, South Carolina, nor Alabama. Those are all places I grew up around in the 60s.

[@jeanmoreno2428]

Hi Bob and everyone loved this video so funny God Bless Much Love Jean from Hollywood California

[@ziobruno9324]

I think it was on the Andy Griffith show that I heard “ you’re as cool as the center seed in a cucumber”.

[@paulhavelka4403]

That's the Time!

[@davegarfield9007]

YEAH! What about “That’s the time”?

[@wahoohoo170]

Definitely used in NW Carolina along the Blue Ridge mountains 😊

[@brianarbenz1329]

Martha Barnett, the Word show's cohost, is from Kentucky, btw. I used to know her.

[@ethanpoints8735]

It's a mad world. Birds of a feather flock together. You are a mad bird flocking together in this mad world.

[@nickswilliamson]

I'm not sure if I was told this as a kid or heard it somewhere along the way, but I've always connected it with Matthew 10:29-31, "...a sparrow's fall..."

[@jeffperius4404]

I catch myself saying that often, I've always thought it meant you are unique or one of a kind. Makes since ta me,,

[@cherylweber1246]

This video reminded that In the movie Lawless the Tom Hardy character had a short monolog with man trying to do harm with a knife. It was about a bird and not knowing what was , funny, confusing, and most importantly distracting.

[@kevinkiser9685]

When I hear that phrase i think he’s saying that Barney is odd or strange could be he’s one of a kind or just a nut

[@patrickt863]

Maybe it's "a rare bird in this world". That makes sense.

[@jehobden]

MeTV includes this expression in its "Decoding the Andy Griffith Show" promos. However it translates the expression as "You are a unique individual" rather than anything insulting.

[@johnmartin3200]

A bird in this world = Cat Bird Same thing

[@paulsarnik8506]

I saw that. Was going to comment on this. 🤓😎✌🏼

[@markcadieux3445]

You beat everything, you know that? I think Andy was the only one who said that.

[@llr1784]

I say that! I don't know where I picked it up and I never knew it was uncommon. I did live in North Carolina for a few years as a child, so maybe I heard it there.

[@tanyahardy5065]

I enjoy your videos very much. Just good, clean comments shared among fans of the show.

[@theandygriffithshowfactsan3585]

Thanks, Tanya

[@pennybourban3712]

I love that they let Andy Taylor, the character, use some of Andy, the actors own idioms. I'm sure bird in the world was his own.