Chicken Idioms and Their Origins

Chickens have been associated with people for so long that our language is peppered with idioms deriving from that association. Even city folks who have never seen a live chicken use such expressions, often without realizing what they actually mean. But more interesting than the meaning of a chicken idiom is its origin. Let’s look at some common chicken idioms that originate from our longtime association with chickens, but have taken on a life of their own.

Playing Chicken

Playing chicken, as you probably know, is a so-called game that involves two drivers moving toward each other on a collision course. One must swerve, or both may die in the crash. But if one driver swerves and the other doesn’t, the one who swerved is the chicken, or is chicken hearted, meaning a coward.

Anyone who has had chickens for more than five minutes knows the game of chicken originated in barnyard conflicts to establish or maintain the pecking order. When two chickens face off, the one that turns away first (or chickens out) becomes lower in rank than the other. If neither one turns away, which can happen when two mature roosters face off, the two may fight until at least one of them is mortally wounded.

Although each rooster tries to stare down the other, the origin of this term is apparently unrelated to chickens. According to psychotherpist Katherine Cullen: “This… visual display of dominance has long been attributed to how evolution has conditioned us to respond to threats and also to how accustomed we’ve become, as a species, to inferring our place in a perceived social hierarchy: If someone is staring us down and we grow uncomfortable, we may, on a gut-level, infer we are of a lower status.” Whether chickens or humans, it’s all about who blinks first.

Pecking Order

Pecking order is another idiom having origins in chickendom. By playing chicken with one another, the members of a flock develop a social hierarchy that determines such things as which ones eat first or roost on the highest perch.

The terms playing chicken and pecking order are common in corporate and political circles, where status reigns. These chicken idioms are used even by people who have never been closer to a chicken than at the dinner table.

Chicken Feed

The idiom chicken feed refers to a small amount of money, or loose change euphemistically compared to kernels of grain. This expression dates to the mid 1800s or early 1900s, depending on who you ask.

At that time chicken rations were of poor quality and therefore cheap. These days chicken rations are anything but cheap, and the quality is debatable, but we still refer to a paltry sum as chicken feed. Another idiom that denotes money is scratch, usually in the sense that “I don’t have scratch to afford that.”

Chicken Scratch

Chicken scratch is a type of chicken ration consisting of a variety of whole and cracked grains. When you toss them on the ground, chickens scratch for them. As an idiom, chicken scratch refers to undecipherable handwriting, like a doctor jots on a prescription, compared to random marks a chicken makes in the soil while scratching for grain.

This idiom first appeared in a 1909 play implying that William Shakespeare had a ghost writer. The character representing Shakespeare says:
     “Pray God in Heaven, help me out in this;
     I cannot write much more than mine own name
     And that resembles more a chicken’s scratch
     That puts the art of writing to the shame.”

Starting from scratch or cooking from scratch, by the way, has nothing to do with grain or chickens. This idiom refers to the starting line drawn in soil, behind which contestants await the start of a sports event.

Neck Wringing

If you want to cook a chicken from scratch, you first have to wring its neck. At least that’s the way it was done before more humane methods were developed. When someone really annoys you, you might threaten, “I’ll wring your neck.” Euphemistically speaking, of course.

Rather than neck wringing, some folks prefer an ax. In that case, the chicken might accommodate by stretching its neck on the chopping block. When a friend or colleague is considering taking a risk, you might warn, “Don’t stick your neck out.” Whether this idiom refers to a chicken about to meet the stew pot or a turtle taking a risk by poking it’s neck out of its shell to have a look around is a matter of debate.

Squawking

If you are intent on wringing a chicken’s neck, it is likely to squawk loudly. Someone who noisily complains or protests puts up a squawk. To get that person to shut up, you might say, “Stop squawking.”

A more recent use of this chicken idiom refers to a pilot’s transmissions, or squawks, emitted through a squawk box. A squawk box might also be a loudspeaker. When a persistent loudspeaker annoys you while you’re trying to concentrate on shopping at a grocery or department store, you might want to holler, “Stop squawking!”

These are just a few of the 150+ chicken idioms I have collected over the years. In the future I hope to share more of them with you.