Skip to main content

shoot the albatross

V.
to bring bad luck by accident/circumstance; to jinx.

Taken from "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner", a narrative poem in which a sailor shoots and kills an albatross, a seabird said to bring good luck to sailors. The killer is cursed to spend eternity wandering the Antarctic Ocean unless he confesses his sin.

He drifts alone for several years, but finally prays for forgiveness and is saved, gaining a respect for God's creation in the process (the moral of the poem).

Invented at Michigan Lutheran High School.
Bob: We lost the football playoffs; who shot the albatross?
Alice: I did; I accidentally spilled some salt at lunch...

Alice: Don't cross your legs when playing poker. That's the poker equivalent of shooting an albatross.

Bob: If you end up on the cover of a Madden game, you'll shoot the albatross, so to speak, and end your career.
by HC Drezz March 23, 2011
mugGet the shoot the albatross mug.

Albatross

1) Golf term, putting the ball into the hole 3 strokes under par.

2) A type of bird. Said to bring bad luck to anyone who shoots it.
1) Alright! Albatross!
by Arran January 3, 2005
mugGet the Albatross mug.

Albatross Day

The first Saturday of April is Albatross Day.

What is this day, you ask? Well, the Albatross, a beautiful bird that brings luck to those it chooses to follow, is a main symbol in the poem "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Iron Maiden also has a song about the poem if you are interested.

In the poem, the mariner kills the albatross that follows his ship. By choosing to kill the bird, the mariner and his crew are cursed until the day that they die, doomed to have bad luck FOREVER. The curse is a psychological and physical burden that cannot be escaped!!!!!

Ultimately, the mariner had the chance to be lucky for the rest of his life, but he fucked it up. On the first Saturday of every April, YOU have the chance to create your own luck, to find your own albatross.

"Albatross" can also be used to replace the word "luck".
Hey, are you going to the Albatross Day?
FUCK YEAH!

What an albatross day this is!
by bananahammockyeah April 14, 2011
mugGet the Albatross Day mug.

Albatrosaphobia

The fear of Albatrosses. As in the bird. Those things are fricken terrifiying
After the trip, Greta became scared of the large birds. She now has Albatrosaphobia and will never look at an Albatross again.
by pagelllllllll November 18, 2017
mugGet the Albatrosaphobia mug.

Albatrossing

The act of inserting the beak of any live aviary species into any desired orifice (usually vaginal, urethral or anal) causing the bird to panic and squawk. Stretching the orifice
Person 1: Have you tried Albatrossing? It's all the rage with the younger generation.
Person 2: I have indeed, I was told a Wood Pigeon is a great way to get started.
by ColonelSmegPot July 12, 2015
mugGet the Albatrossing mug.

Jewish Albatross

Dripping soy sauce down the pulsating member of a jewish man's forskin, while reciting the indian code to survival in the great plains.
jimmy k told me about the Jewish Albatross as we were reading the Torah.
by Kevboe, cole cakes, cel. May 16, 2008
mugGet the Jewish Albatross mug.

Albatrouz

Im an albatrouz.
by 12263v January 9, 2019
mugGet the Albatrouz mug.

Share this definition

Sign in to vote

We'll email you a link to sign in instantly.

Or

Check your email

We sent a link to

Open your email