Meaning of Idiom ‘In the Catbird Seat’
If someone is in the catbird seat they are in a superior or advantageous position; a position of power and influence.
Sentence Examples
“During the 1980s, Atari was in the catbird seat in terms of the home video game industry.”
“Once I get this promotion, I’ll be in the catbird seat.”
“He was in the catbird seat the entire game. I don’t know what his secret is.”
Origin
First seen in print during the 1940s in a James Thurber short story, the idiom ‘in the catbird seat’ was popularized by a sports broadcaster named Red Barber in the 1940s who used it to refer to a baseball player with no strikes and thus three balls still to play.
The bird (Dumetella carolinensis) in the idiom references an actual bird nicknamed the catbird because its call is somewhat like a cat’s meow. This bird tends to be seen perched high up in trees, etc. The idiom probably alludes to a cat sitting in a high, and thus advantageous position from which to ambush a bird.
Red Barber claimed to have learned the idiom during a poker game during which his opponent consistently met every raise he offered and then raised more. Barber only had a pair of eights while his opponent had an ace showing and another ace in the hole. After winning the hand he said “Thanks for all those raises. From the start, I was sitting in the catbird seat.” Barber began using the expression as he felt he had ‘paid for it.’
