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In the catbird seat was among the numerous folksy expressions that legendary baseball broadcaster Red Barber used to delight listeners. Some say he invented the expression; others say that he dug it up from his Southern origins. But the truth may be far stranger than those rumors. In a 1942 short story titled "The Catbird Seat," James Thurber featured a character, Mrs. Barrows, who liked to use the phrase. Another character, Joey Hart, explained that Mrs. Barrows must have picked up the expression from Red Barber. To Red, according to Joey, sitting in the catbird seat meant 'sitting pretty,' like a batter with three balls and no strikes on him. But, according to Barber's daughter, it was only after Barber read Thurber's story that he started using "in the catbird seat" himself.
Synonyms
Examples of catbird seat in a Sentence
Grant Brisbee, The Athletic, 24 July 2024
William Byron, on the other hand, is in the catbird seat among Hendrick Motorsports drivers and sits with a seven-point cushion above the cutoff line.
—Marco Rubio, Newsweek, 2 Nov. 2024
Brat is what happens when an auteur is given a budget and the catbird seat in the boardroom.
—Hazlitt, 17 July 2024
The next guy to occupy the catbird seat is a name that might be familiar to New England football fans.
—Ben Volin, BostonGlobe.com, 9 Apr. 2022
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Dictionary Entries Near catbird seat
Cite this Entry
“Catbird seat.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/catbird%20seat. Accessed 1 Dec. 2024.
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