Box of birds

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Meaning

Very well, cheerful or full of energy. Informal and upbeat, commonly used after feel, be or look. Regional use: New Zealand.

Origin

This New Zealand expression presents a box of lively, chirping birds as an image of animation and good spirits. That interpretation is transparent, but the documentary sources do not identify a specific event or certain first use. It is best classified as a 20th-century New Zealand colloquialism of unresolved detailed origin.

Variants

  • Be a box of birds
  • Feel a box of birds
  • Look a box of birds

Usage Examples

  • After a night's sleep and a hot breakfast, I felt a box of birds.
  • Mere looked a box of birds when she arrived home from the hospital.

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