DCHP-3

bird course

DCHP-2 (Oct 2016)
n. — Education, student slang, usually derogatory

a high school or university course that is regarded as easy.

Type: 5. Frequency — Bird course may have originated in Canada, as attestations of the term are rarely found in other countries, especially not before the 1980s. The term is most prevalent in Canada based on internet domain searches (see Chart 1). Bird course is slightly derogatory, as it implies a person giving or taking it chooses the path of least resistance or the easy route.
See also ITP Nelson, s.v. "bird course", with label "slang", but not marked as Canadian in any way; and COD-2, s.v. "bird course", which marks the term correctly as "Cdn derogatory slang".
See: spare
The term may originate in notions of the small size of birds' brains (see OED-3, s.v. "bird brain"; see also the 1943 quotation).

Quotations

1975
One of the most popular targets for criticism has been the credit system, Rutledge said, "because the public has the impression that the students are just taking a bunch of bird courses - I wish they'd even tell me what a bird course is."
1982
Asked about reports Prof. Hambleton sometimes gave what are colloquially known as bird courses, Prof. Leblanc laughs and says, "it would be false to say no."
1989
Those expecting a "bird course" along the lines of some high school drama programs soon learn tutelage under a working professional is "tough and (acting) is a craft, something to be studied."
1996
A bachelor of canoeing? It might sound like a bird course, but Lakehead University's honors program in outdoor education, as it's really called, is just one of many offbeat programs at Canadian universities that have students lining up to get in.
2000
"It kind of got the reputation for being a bird course, but in the past few years myself and the other people who have taught it worked to weed that notion out."
2005
Exceptional students like Whelan sometimes find themselves in the company of good students who stack their high-school timetable with 'bird' courses or benefit from teachers who are easy graders.
2013
"Every child I've ever seen that goes with the careers program thinks it's a bird course that's too soft, and it's too early for them. It's the only required course I think you could push out of the way to put financial education in, so everybody gets it."

References

  • COD-2
  • OED-3
  • ITP Nelson

Images

Chart 1: Internet Domain Search, 11 Sep. 2013

Chart 1: Internet Domain Search, 11 Sep. 2013