As Thanksgiving approaches, turkeys take center stage. But if someone calls you a turkey, they likely aren’t paying you a compliment. So what exactly does it mean when someone says “don’t be a turkey”? Let’s explore the origins and evolution of this quirky insult.
A Fowl Metaphor
While turkeys grace holiday tables nationwide, they’re also associated with foolishness. The phrase “don’t be a turkey” dates back to the early 1900s, when turkey became slang for a silly, stupid or gullible person.
Some theories suggest the unflattering comparison stems from turkeys’ perceived clumsiness and tendency to become easily duped. Others link it to overindulgence during Thanksgiving leading to foolish behavior. Regardless of exact origins, the turkey clearly took on negative connotations in popular vernacular.
Modern Usages
These days, calling someone a turkey still implies they’re acting foolishly or unwisely. For example
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“Don’t be a turkey and buy that flashy sports car you can’t afford.”
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“I can’t believe Sarah quit her job before lining up a new one. What a turkey!”
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“Mark ate three huge Thanksgiving dinners in a row. Stop being such a turkey!”
The term can also suggest cowardice, weakness or failure. For instance:
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“Come on, don’t be a turkey. Ask that girl out already!”
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“Everyone will think you’re a turkey if you don’t even try out for the talent show.”
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“I beat Jim at chess five times in a row. He’s such a turkey!”
Simply Fowl Play
While potentially insulting to actual turkeys, this phrase is generally lighthearted when used in everyday banter. It’s a playful way to nudge friends or family away from questionable decisions without harshly judging them as a fool or loser.
Next time you hear someone say “don’t be a turkey,” take it as a loving reminder to avoid naive or thoughtless choices, and make decisions you won’t regret later. After all, who wants to feel like a silly bird at the Thanksgiving table? A gentle gobble may be the wisest response!
Gobbling Up Some Turkey Trivia
Now that you know the meaning behind this fowl expression, let’s share some fun turkey facts:
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Male turkeys are called gobblers, hens are females. Baby turkeys are known as poults.
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A group of turkeys is called a flock or rafter.
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The average turkey eats up to 200 pounds of food annually!
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Wild turkeys can fly short distances up to 55 miles per hour.
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The loose skin hanging from a turkey’s neck is called a wattle.
-Turkeys have great vision during the day but very poor vision at night.
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Only male turkeys actually gobble. Female turkeys make clicking noises.
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Native Americans domesticated turkeys over 2,000 years ago.
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Turkey production is a $17 billion industry in the U.S.
From the Coop to the Table
While turkeys may get a bad rap as less-than-intelligent birds, they play an integral role in holiday traditions. Next time you dig into a delicious Thanksgiving turkey dinner, remember the humble fowl’s enduring impact on everything from American agriculture to popular idioms.
And maybe pause before calling someone a turkey – after all, we can’t be 100% sure those birds are really so foolish! Gobble gobble!
turkey n.1
1. a state of drunkenness [drive turkeys to market ; ? one walks like the bird].
| Stray Subjects (1848) 116: ‘It’s a turkey I’ve got on,’ hiccuped Tom Links, as he noticed a singular disposition on the part of the pavé to rise up and impede his progress. |
| ‘Last Bloody Duel Fought in Ohio’ in Polly Peablossom’s Wedding 177: Others who carried lesser sized ‘turkies,’ were toddling about the room in groups of two and upwards, muttering delightful sentiments, and swearing their friendship to each other. |
2. (Aus./US) a vagrant’s pack, a lumberman’s kit pack [resemblance to the bulky bird which has been ‘stuffed’].
| Blazed Trail 18: Shearer reached over his head and took from the rack a heavy canvas bag, which he handed to the conductor. ‘That’s his ‘turkey’,’ he explained, ‘his war bag.’. |
| ‘A Word-List From Minnesota’ in DN IV:i 12: turkey, n. A lumberman’s pack or kit. ‘He carried his turkey on his back.’. |
| ‘Hobo Lingo’ in AS I:12 653: Turkey — a canvas bag. |
| Amer. Tramp and Und. Sl. 192: Turkey.– A canvas tool bag ; a bed roll. |
| Aus. Lang. 102: A drum, of course, is the equivalent of swag, […] turkey, […] or bluey as the tramp’s rolled blanket is variously called. |
| et al. DAUL 228/1: Turkey. […] 3. (Hobo) The handkerchief-wrapped roll of belongings carried by hobos and tramps. |
3. (US Und.) a suitcase; a large traveling bag [resemblance to the bulky bird which has been ‘stuffed’] .
| Vocab. Criminal Sl. |
| et al. DAUL 228/1: Turkey. 1. A suitcase; satchel; any piece of luggage. |
4. in senses of failure, weakness [according to Cohen (ed.) Studies in Slang IV (1995) pp.100–119, originating in the theatrical turkey show, a touring show, usu. burlesque, mounted at a moment’s notice and staffed by a third-rate cast, even stage-struck amateurs].
(a) a failure, an incompetent, a dull person.
| in Tarheel Talk (1956) 302: You ‘Turkey with a surname’! Why have you not written to me?]. |
| Nat. Police Gaz. (NY) 30 Dec. 7/2: A party of so-called ‘turkey actors’ undertook to give a Thansgiving [sic] performance of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ in a Harlem hall]. |
| On Broadway 17 Sept. [synd. col.] The Craig theater management […] says it prefers a dark house to a turkey show. |
| (con. 1920s) Young Manhood in Studs Lonigan (1936) 337: Jesus, them turkeys down there would ride the pants off me. |
| Duke 109: After almost bumping into that turkey [….] The more I thought of that the more I knew it was that stupid-looking guy that followed me that other time. |
| ‘I’ll Bet You a Death’ in Deadly Streets (1983) 41: Don’t let that turkey bother you. |
| et al. CUSS 214: Turkey A person who always fools around. A person who always does the wrong thing. […] A person without much social or academic ability. |
| (con. 1960s) Wanderers 32: Turkey was a real turkey. He was in all the honor classes […] but the other smart kids would have nothing to do with him because he was such a creep. |
| G’DAY 7: MACKA: Wooden mine givin that one. Shes with some turkey. SHANE: The smooth bastard with the mo? |
| Joe Bob Goes to the Drive-In 18: Joe Bob also said Gus Simpson is a turkey ‘and you can print that.’. |
| Human Torpedo 108: If you went on what every turkey said, you’d be at my funeral. |
| Sl. and Sociability 69: A turkey is ‘a person who acts stupid or never seems to do things right.’. |
| Kill Your Friends (2009) 14: Schneider has signed one too many turkeys on the bounce and his position […] is increasingly shaky. |
| Leather Maiden 76: ‘Some turkey called in that her car was up there’. |
| Cherry 45: He’d start talking about this punk and that peckerhead and the other turkey. |
(b) (drugs) inferior quality or even fake drugs.
| ‘Argot of the Und. Narcotic Addict’ Pt 1 in AS XI:2 127/1: turkey. A bindle of bad dope, or a fake capsule found to contain only sugar or chalk. |
| Criminal Sl. (rev. edn) 244: turkey […] a fake capsule containing sugar or chalk, instead of the real narcotic. |
| Traffic In Narcotics 316: Turkey. A substance which does not contain narcotics or marihuana. |
| Hustler 169: Willie didn’t buy any dope, he bought a turkey. [f.n.] When he went home to take off, he didn’t get no feelin’, and he came back lookin’ for Buddy to get his money back [f.n. Turkey—a pill that’s been cut so much there’s no narcotics left in it]. |
| Dict. of Invective (1991) 394: A turkey may be a […] fake capsule of narcotics. |
(c) an unappealing or worthless thing, a disappointment.
| Kingdom of Swing 109: [T]his [show] was a turkey. […] It had a couple of good people in it […] but it was no go. |
| Mildred Pierce 176: The beach..was studded with rocks and was therefore unsuitable to swimming. For all ordinary purposes it was simply a turkey . |
| ‘Coffin for a Coward’ in Hollywood Detective Dec. Bonham […] had made a smash success in a couple of Grade-B turkeys. |
| et al. DAUL 228/1: Turkey. […] 2. Anything worthless, especially a package of valueless substitute for narcotics sold to addicts; a failure; a profitless crime; a criminal victim with no money or valuables. |
| Reinhart in Love (1963) 103: I don’t think we’ll even bother to get out for this turkey [i.e. a house for sale]. |
| Family Arsenal 47: I think we should burn this turkey right now. |
| N.Y. Times 23 Feb. n.p.: The Shoreham [nuclear plant] is a $4 billion turkey [R]. |
| Hilliker Curse 12: We […] went to a movie. It was a seagoing turkey called Fire Down Below. |
| Widespread Panic 6: Julie produced turgid turkeys about farmworker strife. |
| q. in Writing from London 14 June [substack] A time will come when politicians can tell voters that Brexit was a turkey of an idea […] That time isn’t far off. But it isn’t now. |
(d) (US gang) a gang member who won’t or can’t fight, but runs messages etc.
| Duke 31: If you’re a Jap or a turkey […] it’s going to be bad stuff for you. [Ibid.] 50: We sent a turkey ahead. |
(e) a general derog. term of address.
(f) an unattractive man or woman.
| Jimmy Brockett 137: If I’d suddenly looked at my mother and seen her just like any other turkey I passed in the street. |
| Rock 81: The big turkey looks disgusted. |
| Campus Sl. Oct. 6: turkey – person, particularly female, who is physically unattractive. |
| Roger’s Profanisaurus in Viz 98 Oct. 29: turkey n. The cracker you think you’ve pulled whilst drunk at the office Christmas party who turns out to be a rough old bird who only gets stuffed once a year. |
(g) (US Und./teen, also turkeymeat) a victim, e.g. of a mugging or shooting.
| S.R.O. (1998) 48: ‘And what is our turkey’s profession?’. |
| Boston Blitz (1974) 132: He had lived with the constant vision of Mafia turkeymeat lurking at the threshold of his thinking mind. |
| ‘Bop with Smoke’ Free K-Sav the judge done him dirty / Gave man 8 for soakin up turkeys. |
see sense 4g above.
| Homeboy 16: ‘Like old turkey necks,’ is how they [i.e. penises] looked to this bulldagger fitted with boobs bigger than her head. |
| Get Your Cock Out 60: She couldn’t understand why other girls her age were so freaked out by these underground turkey spankers. |
| DSUE (8th edn) 93/1: since ca. 1925. |
(US) to get drunk.
| N.O. Picayune 20 Apr. 2/3: A chap […] caught the largest kind of a ‘turkey’ while visiting the different bar-rooms [DA]. |
to be in a state of drunkenness.
| Burlington Sentinel in (1856) 461: We give a list of a few of the various words and phrases which have been in use, at one time or another, to signify some stage of inebriation: […] got a turkey on his back. |
| ‘Little Old Caboose Behind the Train’ in Long Steel Rail (1981) 383: They get out upon the track with their turkeys on their backs. |
| ‘The Little Red Caboose behind the Train (II)’ in Long Steel Rail (1981) 382: They will get up on that track with a (turkey) on their back. |
(US) to say nothing, to stay silent.
| in Amer. Humour 319: ‘Bet two to one old splinter-legs thar,’ nodding at one of the ministers — ‘won’t git a chance to say turkey to a good-lookin gal today!’ [DA]. |
| DN III 356: She never said pea-turkey to me about it [DA]. |
(US black) one who is infatuated and thus easily led and controlled.
| Runnin’ Down Some Lines 126: Expressions like […] to have a ring through your nose, or to be a turkey on a string mean to be deeply infatuated or in love with another. |
(US) to run off, to act in a cowardly manner.
| ‘The Last Spin’ in Jungle Kids (1967) 153: Tigo would not turkey out of this particular rumble. |
Dont Be A Turkey
FAQ
What does it mean if you call someone a turkey?
What does turkey mean in the hood?
What is a turkey in slang for failure?
What is the definition of a turkey?
What does it mean if someone says ‘Don’t Be a Turkey’?
If someone does something dumb, you might say: “Don‘t be such a turkey!” Or if someone can‘t complete a simple task, you might complain: “They‘re totally turkeying this up!” This usage emerged back in the early 1900s, first appearing in print around 1927 according to etymology experts.
What is wild turkey slang?
Wild turkey‘s high energy – Like a turkey on the move, cocaine gives a rush of energized excitement. This effect may have inspired the slang link. While not as widespread as the previous meanings, turkey as cocaine slang turns up in sources like the Drug Enforcement Agency‘s narcotics dictionary:
What does talk turkey mean on Thanksgiving?
Before you talk turkey this Thanksgiving, find out what we know about the phrase’s meaning and origins. Around Thanksgiving, you may use the phrase talk turkey literally to discuss the bird you’re having for dinner, but initially, the phrase—which was first recorded in 1824— meant “to discuss something pleasantly.”
What does ‘cold turkey’ mean in slang?
In current slang, saying you‘re quitting “cold turkey” means completely stopping without gradually tapering off something. This usually refers to quitting smoking, drugs, alcohol or another addictive habit abruptly. The first usages come from the early 1950s, though the origin of the cold meat reference is unclear.