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Chicken in Malay idioms

The men spend a lot of time with them, preparing them for the fights in the cabin. They rule the roads in rural areas. Everyone wants it this way, to make it ten times tastier than Kentucky Fried Chicken. Yes, chicken is an integral part of Malaysian life and idioms too.

The first unofficial rule for learning Malay idioms is to be unwise. A hen pecking at a baby of small, fluffy chicks is often used to symbolize maternal love. However, in Malaysia, a “mother hen” when applied to a woman means that she is the lady in charge of a brothel. Similarly, “father chicken” is a pimp. A man who does not work as a pimp can be considered “father hen” if he does not bother to take care of his children. So be careful, chicken-related parenting is a serious insult.

Next, you may want to learn how to joke. Has anyone ever told you that they want to buy you a drink … but you know they don’t mean it? We Malaysians call this “chicken treat”. This is probably due to another proverb “the heat of chicken manure” that cools quickly, referring to fleeting enthusiasm. Therefore, the “chicken manure”, even if the intention is genuine, lasts as long as “the heat of chicken manure”, which is about five minutes.

“Chicken feet” is barefoot, a common sight in rural areas; it is also used to pull the legs of people who forget to put on their shoes. A chicken appears to scribble on the ground as it searches for bites. Of course, no human being can decipher his writings. Therefore, “chicken squiggles” is barely legible, illegible, or ugly. Hopefully, his handwriting is not on par with that of the chicken. I better tell you that when a Malaysian offers you “chicken squiggles”, he is serving a delicious traditional Malay snack that has nothing to do with the language of the same name. “Chicken blindness” mimics the inability of chickens to see at dusk, also known as “night blindness”, it is a disease that has entered the collection of Malay idioms that does not necessarily imply that the person in question is going blind. Mainly, it is to annoy people who cannot see well at night, such as drivers who should wear glasses.

The Malay-speaking world must be so fascinated by the sport of cockfighting that a sassy macho guy is some kind of black-speckled “fighting cock.” Do not begin to think that the instinctual impulse of a male chicken to rival all males of the same species does not equate to courage. Remember the first rule. Sometimes the fighting cocks are tied to tie posts that are reminiscent of gladiator fights. Since the owner uses his best birds in this case, a “tied chicken” is the key player in sports matches, especially soccer, where he is expected to contribute to victory. In English, “chicken” is not a hero, but in Malay it is. Strange and true.

The second unofficial rule of thumb for learning Malaysian idioms is to accept their volatility. “Decoy chicken” was used to represent a human playing the same role. It seems that this chicken is eaten by a tiger who enters the trap and disappears from the list of Malay idioms. Not just “decoy hen”, many other “idioms” have changed meaning or have quietly disappeared into action.

Regardless of the constant inconsistency of Malaysian idioms, many of them inspired by the ubiquitous chicken will stick, bwak!