We sat around discussing hot tubs. Some people had them, some didn't. Some had one outside, where under certain circumstances, it worked best to be "naked as a j-bird" as one walked out and got into the tub. I said I had never seen a jay naked, only ones covered with feathers. Somebody asked what a j-bird was. Somebody else promised to look the phrase up later.
I looked it up later and got over 9 million hits, starting with this:
In the 1920's and 1930's America, j-bird was short for jailbird and when the prisoners were brought in from the bus, they went straight to the showers. They were given their kit and made to walk naked from one end of the prison to the next. Hence the phrase "naked as a j-bird or jaybird.Aug 18, 2016
Where did the phrase 'Naked as a jay bird' come from? - Quora
I guess that a phrase has lasted one hundred years because it referred to nudity, even though most of the people I know don't seem to have much to do with incarcerated people.
Another phrase on a similar subject was "buck naked". While I was at it, I also looked that up. I found that there is a linguistic debate over whether the term was originally "buck naked" or "butt naked".
You can see how the process works. Once people start talking, and thinking, and wondering, the topics can jump in very unexpected directions. It may be that some areas, such as the famous "money, religion and politics" will grab a large share of the discussion, maybe even hanging it up on themselves. But whether it is a cracker barrel or a living room, topics, questions and ideas can duck and swerve, bend, blend or break with surprising speed in unpredictable directions.
