dead donkey

Definition

A rarity.

Etymology

From the saying that no one ever sees a dead donkey, hence a rarity. This then became a stock example of a slow-news-day story, which was popularized by the title of the British sitcom Drop the Dead Donkey.

Example Sentences

• "A dead bore is as rare a phenomenon as a dead donkey or a dead attorney."
• "“No,” rejoined Sam, triumphantly. “Nor never vill; and there's another thing that no man never see, and that’s a dead donkey—no man never see a dead donkey, ’cept the gen’l’m’n in the black silk smalls as know’d the young ’ooman as kept a goat; and that wos a French donkey, so wery likely he warn’t vun o’ the reg’lar breed.”"
• "I say, if they only get proper treatment, it will be no more likely to see a dead heath than it would be to see a dead donkey."