Dictionary definition of “buzzard’s luck”

buzzard’s luck

n. bad luck. Subjects: English, United States

Editorial Note: This term refers specifically to carrion-feeding North American vultures that are called buzzards. The expression is often accompanied by the explanation that a buzzard “can’t kill nothing and nothing will die.”

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Citations: 1969 H. Rap Brown Die Nigger Die! p. 29 @ The Signifying Monkey (Dec., 1989) Henry Louis Gates p. 74: I been having buzzard luck/Can’t kill nothing and won’t nothing die. [1971 Oakland Tribune (California) (Apr. 15) “Motor Sports Calendar” p. 42: Olympic Sports Car association presents “Buzzard Luck II” (gimmick-coursemarker rally…).] 1976 Charles Maher Los Angeles Times (Oct. 14) “There’s Nothing Super About Steelers Anymore” p. E1: I’m still convinced we have a very good team, capable of beating anyone on a given day, but we’re justing having buzzards’ luck. Everything that happens seems to be a disaster. 1977 Lethbridge Herald (Alberta, Can.) (June 15) “Houston plagued by ‘Buzzard Luck’” (in Houston, Texas) p. 26: Something called Buzzard’s Luck continues to plague the National League baseball team.…"Buzzard’s Luck is when you can’t kill anything and nothing will die.” 1982 W.P. Kinsella Shoeless Joe (Apr.) p. 225 @ (Apr. 28, 1999): Buzzard’s luck.…He can’t kill nothing, and nothing will die for him. 2005 Mary Dickie Canoe (Can.) (Nov. 22) “Jam! Showbiz: Singer Bettye Lavette covers ‘em”: “Everyone who’s heard me has liked me, it’s just that most people didn’t hear me.…It was rarely anything I did—I wasn’t having fits in sessions or refusing to go on the road or strung out on anything—just bad timing, and what I call buzzard’s luck.”

Posted 23 Nov 05 | Permalink | Tell a Friend