# Non-English Colloquialisms For A Chicken (someone who is fearful/easily frightened)? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 10, 2023, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-colloquialisms-for-a-chicken-someone-who-is-fearful-easily-frightened/992948 "2023-11-10T16:59:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2023, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-colloquialisms-for-a-chicken-someone-who-is-fearful-easily-frightened/992948/1 "2023-11-10T16:59:45Z")
How would I call someone a chicken (as in, they’re easily frightened) in other languages besides English? Is a fearful hispanophone “un pollo”? A fearful a Germanophone “un huhn”? ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2023, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-colloquialisms-for-a-chicken-someone-who-is-fearful-easily-frightened/992948/2 "2023-11-10T17:12:18Z")
Spanish: Gallina (“Nadie me dice gallina” said Marty McFly in the spanish dub.) Rioplatense Spanish: “Cagón” (literally “prone to shitting himself”), “Pecho Frio” (Cold Chest). ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2023, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-colloquialisms-for-a-chicken-someone-who-is-fearful-easily-frightened/992948/3 "2023-11-10T17:17:03Z")
> **[Eagle eyes and monkey business: how animals are perceived in different...](https://www.teamajt.com/eagle-eyes-monkey-business-animals-perceived-different-languages/)** > > It is commonly known that different cultures perceive and treat animals in entirely different ways: whereas dogs are seen as food in some parts of China, they are the most beloved pets in Western Europe. Cows are considered holy in India, but are the... > [@](#): > > Chickens > > Apparently, we think of chickens as cowardly: in German they express this notion with the idiom “Feiges Huhn” (cowardly chicken) and in Spanish they use “Ser una gallina” (to be a chicken) for someone who is afraid of doing something. I don’t think the “chicken==coward” idiom is universal. But it appears to be widespread in Western cultures. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2023, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-colloquialisms-for-a-chicken-someone-who-is-fearful-easily-frightened/992948/4 "2023-11-10T17:26:38Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > > Eagle eyes and monkey business: how animals are perceived in different languages Brings to mind this… > **[Family Guy - Stewie plays with his European Animal Soundboard](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNwNQZ4TXLo?=list)** > > Season 7Episode 3If you want to download full episode click on the next linkhttp://zipansion.com/DM7XThanks for watching ---
**Author:** ![Moonrise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonrise/32/14764_2.png) [@Moonrise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonrise)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2023, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-colloquialisms-for-a-chicken-someone-who-is-fearful-easily-frightened/992948/5 "2023-11-10T17:32:22Z")
French : _une poule mouillée_ (“a wet hen”). ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2023, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-colloquialisms-for-a-chicken-someone-who-is-fearful-easily-frightened/992948/6 "2023-11-10T18:41:02Z")
German: Hosenscheisser (a pant-shitter) ---
**Author:** ![Mops](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mops/32/16494_2.png) [@Mops](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mops)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2023, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-colloquialisms-for-a-chicken-someone-who-is-fearful-easily-frightened/992948/7 "2023-11-10T19:06:27Z")
Also German, and less pungent: _Angsthase_ (literally: “fear hare”), _Bangbüx_ (North German only, “fearful pants”), _Hasenfuß_ (“hare’s foot”). To flee in fear: _das Hasenpanier ergreifen_ (“to seize the hare’s battle standard”). ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2023, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-colloquialisms-for-a-chicken-someone-who-is-fearful-easily-frightened/992948/8 "2023-11-10T19:19:58Z")
In Cantonese there are quite a few ways of calling someone a coward, but one referring to an animal is “Suk Tau Wu Gwai”, which means “shrinking head turtle”. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2023, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-colloquialisms-for-a-chicken-someone-who-is-fearful-easily-frightened/992948/9 "2023-11-10T19:37:52Z")
> [@Mops](#): > > _Bangbüx_ (North German only, “fearful pants”) In Afrikaans, it’s _bangbroek_, same meaning (see also: English _scaredy-pants_) Also, _papbroek_ (“soft pants”) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2023, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-colloquialisms-for-a-chicken-someone-who-is-fearful-easily-frightened/992948/10 "2023-11-10T21:29:24Z")
Dutch: Angsthaas (fear hare) Bange schijter (scared shitter) ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2023, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-colloquialisms-for-a-chicken-someone-who-is-fearful-easily-frightened/992948/11 "2023-11-10T22:05:50Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > > [@Mops](#): > > > > _Bangbüx_ (North German only, “fearful pants”) > > In Afrikaans, it’s _bangbroek_, same meaning (see also: English _scaredy-pants_) In my not so far Northern dialect (Westphalian), it’s “Bangebuxe”. There’s also “Schisser”, just “shitter”. Yeah, there’s something to it that we are mostly quite scatological when it comes to colloquialisms and swear words. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2023, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-colloquialisms-for-a-chicken-someone-who-is-fearful-easily-frightened/992948/12 "2023-11-10T23:59:08Z")
In Hebrew it’s _shafan_, “rabbit”. … sort of. Technically, shafan _means_ hyrax, but colloquially the word is also used to refer to the rabbit or the hare, animals that are in no way related to the hyrax. Don’t ask. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2023, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-colloquialisms-for-a-chicken-someone-who-is-fearful-easily-frightened/992948/13 "2023-11-11T05:12:23Z")
In Welsh, it’s _cachgi_ /kaxgi/, which is a compound of _cach_ “shit” and _ci_ “dog” (as in _corgi_). ---
**Author:** ![Mikkel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikkel/32/13151_2.png) [@Mikkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikkel)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2023, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-colloquialisms-for-a-chicken-someone-who-is-fearful-easily-frightened/992948/14 "2023-11-11T11:58:13Z")
In Danish you can say _kylling_ (chicken) or _bangebuks_ (scaredy pants). ---
**Author:** ![ThisOneGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@ThisOneGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisOneGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2023, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-colloquialisms-for-a-chicken-someone-who-is-fearful-easily-frightened/992948/15 "2023-11-17T03:23:09Z")
Japanese would be _yowamushi_ or “weak insect”