Going the Way of the Dodo
The dodo is a famously extinct animal. So, as you can imagine, this phrase means that something is no longer useful. It could be obsolete or outdated because a better product has come along. Maybe it is being phased out (slowly replaced by something else).
Example: Cellphones are so useful, there is no reason to have a LAN (house) phone. LAN line telephones are going the way of the dodo.
Going the way of the dodo will sometimes be used as a euphemism to talk about death. It can be used to describe the death of one or many people. However, it may be better to change this phrase into past tense.
Example: The Minoans went the way of the dodo.
The dodo was discovered by Dutch sailors on Mauritius in 1598. By 1662, all the birds were extinct. They were a good source of food for long voyages. The problem for the dodos was that they were simply unafraid of humans. Since they didn’t hide from people, they were easy to kill. They also had a lot of meat on them. It is unfortunate. I would have loved to see one.
Interesting Facts:
- The dodo is related to pigeons and doves.
- It might be possible to de-extinct the dodo
- They couldn’t fly. The belief is that they saved energy by not flying. They didn’t need to.
- They didn’t taste that good (but food is food)
- Dodos only laid one egg at a time.
- The extinction of the dodo might have been caused by rats eating their eggs. They were brought to the island by sailors.
- Most flightless birds had special skills like running fast (ostriches), swimming (penguins), attacking (cassowaries) or just being too large (terror birds). The dodo and some other species (Moa) just weren’t able to defend themselves.
- The kakapo is the only flightless parrot. They are critically endangered.
Sometimes you will hear a similar phrase, going the way of the dinosaur. The meaning is identical. The thing that is being talked about is slowly going extinct.
Can you think of a product that has gone the way of the dodo?
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Reference:
https://www.thoughtco.com/facts-about-the-dodo-bird-1092144
https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/facts-about-dodos/