TO GET (or GIVE) THE BIG BIRD, phr. (theatrical).—To be hissed on the boards; or conversely, to hiss. [The BIG BIRD is the goose.] Fr. appeler Azor (= to call the dog).
1886. Graphic, 10 April, 399. TO BE GOOSED, or, as it is sometimes phrased, to GET THE BIG BIRD, is occasionally a compliment to the actor’s power of representing villainy, but more often is disagreeably suggestive of a failure to please.
