maybe one of you Brits know

[pontifex]

What does "looking for cuckoo nests" mean? I think i have a slight idea what it may mean but not sure and i have reason to believe it may be a British phrase.

 

[Maximilian]

Well im brittish. If somone says to me theyre looking for cuckoo nests, then i assume they will be climbing trees invading small birds nests looking for cuckoos 😛 Or theyre totally crazy and have lost the plot.

 

[RichUK]

uuummm .. WTF?!

I dont have a clue what you're on about.

 

[pontifex]

I just read it in Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett. The main character is reading a romance novel.

The girl and guy characters in the romance novel go off to gather nuts in June. The main character says they're stupid for thinking they would find nuts in June.

she goes on to say "oh. i see. hmm. hah. not nuts at all, then. On the Chalk, that sort of thing was called looking for cuckoo nests".

Is she referring to them being stupid about finding nuts in June? is looking for cuckoo nests really stupid or something? or does it mean something else?

 

[chcarnage]

Originally posted by: pontifex
is looking for cuckoo nests really stupid or something?

Cuckoos put their eggs in other bird's nests and don't have own nests. So yes it is a metaphor for doing something stupid. Thinkaboutit 😉

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: chcarnage

Originally posted by: pontifex
is looking for cuckoo nests really stupid or something?

Cuckoos put their eggs in other bird's nests and don't have own nests. So yes it is a metaphor for doing something stupid. Thinkaboutit 😉

sorry, i don't know anything about cuckoos but now it makes sense.
at least i'm not the only one who didn't know that anyway.

 

[Ulfhednar]

"One flew over the cuckoo's nest" is a very strong innuendo, in which the cuckoo's nest refers to female anatomy. In this context however, chcarnage is correct and it means doing something stupid.

<--- British, English.

 

[RichUK]

Originally posted by: Ulfhednar
"One flew over the cuckoo's nest" is a very strong innuendo, in which the cuckoo's nest refers to female anatomy. In this context however, chcarnage is correct and it means doing something stupid.

<--- British, English.

Ahh now i know what the op was on about. When he posted "looking for cuckoo nests", i was like WTF.

 

[Mokmo418]

cuckoo's don't make nests
they lay eggs in other birds' nests

So it's like looking for something impossible

 

[Ulfhednar]

Originally posted by: RichUK
Ahh now i know what the op was on about. When he posted "looking for cuckoo nests", i was like WTF.

When I saw the first part of what he wrote, I thought it was a YAGT. 😛