dodo: [17] When Portuguese explorers first encountered the unfortunate dodo on the island of Mauritius, it struck them as a clumsy and foolish bird, so they applied to it the Portuguese word doudo ‘simpleton’. The name has stuck in English (although in the 17th century it had some competition from the French and Dutch term dronte). The first record of the simile ‘dead as a dodo’ comes from 1904, over 200 years after the extinction of the species, although the word had been used since the late 19th century as a metaphor for someone or something hopelessly out of date: ‘He belongs to the Dodo race of real unmitigated toryism’, Lisle Carr, Judith Gwynne 1874.
dodo (n.)
1620s, from Portuguese doudo "fool, simpleton," an insult applied by Portuguese sailors to the awkward bird (Didus ineptus) they found on Mauritius island. The last record of a living one is from 1681. Applied in English to stupid persons since 1886.
例文
1. Any dodo could put this together.
どのバカもこれをインストールすることができます。
2.That strange plan of yours is now as dead as a dodo ; nobody is interested in it any more.
あなたの奇妙な計画は今では期待できなくなって、誰もそれに興味を持っていません。
3.He was aware of Dodo 's innocent blue eyes regarding him.
彼はなんと無邪気な青い目が彼を見つめていることに気づいた。
4.He supposed，though，he would dispense with Dodo soon.
しかし、彼は近いうちに多くを捨ててしまうと思っていた。
5. Dodo ，her expression uncertain，hovered behind O 'keefe.