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No Spring Chicken

 

No Spring Chicken 


Watch this on YouTube here - Spring Video - YouTube Video


Meaning:

No Spring Chicken is used to explain a person who is no longer young; someone who can no longer be considered youthful; an older person.


Origin:

This phrase started as a literal term; a spring chicken is a young fowl ready for eating, which was hatched in the early spring.  Some restaurant menus describe an offering as spring chicken to convince customers that the bird was slaughtered at the peak of perfection.

The saying dates back to the 16th century, showing that Middle-aged and elderly women used to say, "I'm no spring chicken," meaning they were past young adulthood when talking about their attractiveness, health, and energy level.


Example:

Today we still see the phrase no spring chicken being used; it is quite often used in a negative way to express that someone is not as youthful as they once were, an example sentence is:

“I’m no spring chicken, but I still run five miles every day.”


Watch this on YouTube here - Spring Video - YouTube Video




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