A very game bird
I can understand this phrase literally, but I'm afraid that I don't get what else it could mean. I have no idea about context or sense in which it could be used. Have you ever heard it? How much is it used? Is it applicable for the manners of a man or a woman? Would you give me an example?
Thanks in advance!
10 Answers
I'm afraid the phrase rules out the reference to game birds, grouse pheasants etc which are hunted as "game" because of the placement of "very". I cannot be a very man. A book cannot be a "very" book. "A game bird" is a type of bird and is a noun.
If somebody is described as "game" derived from the phrase "game for anything" the person is meant to be daring, even reckless.
The use of "bird" is contentious as well. Traditionally in English a "rare bird" could be an unusual even eccentric person. Often this reference would be to a man.
However that sort of phrase was predominantly used in the first half of the 20th century. The more slang use of "bird" which became pre-dominant in the '60s referred to a young female and was not always derogatory. "I'm meeting my bird tonight" would simply refer to his girlfriend. Also girls on the swinging london scene were often referred to as "dolly birds".
So... I reckon a "game bird" is a female who is daring, up for anything.
Phew, sorry that was so long. 
I have never heard this phrase before. Perhaps it is a UK thing (soy de Florida en EEUU).
However, in reference to how cooked meat tastes, we might say "that bird was very gamey." We could just as easily say "That was a very gamey bird." We use "gamey" to mean the meat has the flavor of wild animals.
I have looked up gamey just now, and, apparently it can also be used in reference to people to mean things like brave or sexy...who knew?
I think I have also heard "gamey" used to mean "wirey" (not big or bulky but somewhat muscular all the same). In other words, most tame animals are a bit on the well-fed side and don't do much while wild animals run around and don't eat much.
Mind you, how my family uses "gamey" may be limited to just people I'm related to.
Y también es un ave de caza....no sé si es literal en el sentido que buscas.
A game bird refering to a person usualy a female means that she is past her use by date .
It has nothing to do with being game, in the sense of play, but has everything to do
with the traditon of hanging birds of game, Partridge ,Pheasant etc, up in a pantry
untill they were quite putrid or "Gamey" hence the term a game bird which actualy
was off , therefore a game bird was very old indeed ,she is past her used by date.
There are two meanings to this, I think.
1.) A game bird (non colloquial) would be a pheasant, duck, quail, partridge, etc.
2.) In the UK a "bird" is a fairly derogatory way to refer to a woman. I understand game as being "up for it" or "ready to participate". So, in UK English, I would understand the full phrase as "She's up for it" but in a derogatory manner.
These two meanings lead to a comparision between the woman and the animal.
I think you'd be most likely to hear this in England, perhaps in the middle or even upper classes, but it sounds quite antiquated to me and isn't in common use in Scotland.
No sé cómo traducirlo al español... tal vez algo como:
"Esa muchacha está lista para todo", pero usando la jerga más común para "muchacha" en la region.
I hope that's helpful!
Hola cogu...to be game significa:
Estar para todo, apuntarse a todo....
En este caso y sin contexto, supongo que se refiere a una mujer, por lo de bird.
Hi Cogu - I also struggled with that one, can someone say more about it? Does it mean that the person stinks? Is that it?
Well... what kind of person has/is a very game bird?
Your answer, Birdland is very interesting. I didn't know that bird had that connotation concerning women. Curious!
Leaving aside the reference to femininity, occurs to me now an example of colloquial Spanish equivalent that also refers to hunting.
When a person is bold, crazy, and is ready for anything, we often say "is a good bird" (es un buen pájaro) and "a good piece" (es una buena pieza), for example:
Este chaval está hecho una buena pieza.
This guy is a really good piece.
it refers to a person
