a variation and intensification of
lay an
egg, meaning to make a mistake, to fail or blunder, to perform badly. The
phrase lay an
egg originated in the 1800s in Britain from the
game of
cricket. When a player failed to
score he was said to have "achieved a
duck's
egg," meaning he achieved nothing. This was an allusion to the similarity between a
duck's
egg and the figure
zero (0). In America the
term became
goose egg, and eventually the
bird was generally
left off. The
use of the
word ostrich here intensifies the size of the mistake or blunder as an ostrich
egg averages 5 inches (12.5
cm) in diameter, 6 inches (15
cm) in length, weighs up to 3
pounds (1,35 kg), and is the
world's largest
egg.