#EZTALK #你不知道的美國大小事
Food Idioms 美國生活用語：Chicken 雞🐣
Chicken is an even better source of protein than eggs, and of course there’s a substantial number of chicken-related idioms. 吃膩蛋了嗎？來點下蛋的動物如何？🐥雞肉比起蛋，是更優質的蛋白質來源，也有許多生活用語。
1⃣chicken out
2⃣play chicken
3⃣chicken feed
4⃣chicken scratch
5⃣spring chicken
6⃣ run around like a chicken with its head cut off
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Everyone knows that chickens are easily frightened, 1⃣ so “chicken” can also mean “coward” or “cowardly.” Ex: Don’t be such a chicken! And for a verb phrase, just add an “out.” Ex: He wanted to ask her out, but chickened out at the last minute. 2⃣ What happens when people “play chicken”? It means they play a dangerous game to see who gives in first. Ex: You should never play chicken with another car.
大家都知道，雞很容易受到驚嚇，所以chicken一字也可以指「懦夫」，或是當形容詞，指「膽小懦弱的」。如：Don’t be such a chicken!（別這麼膽小！）如果要用來表示動詞，後面加上out即可，如：He wanted to ask her out, but chickened out at the last minute.（他本來想約她出去，在最後卻退縮了。）當人們play chicken時會發生什麼事呢？這是在說「比試膽量」，就是玩危險的比賽，來看哪個人先讓步。如：You should never play chicken with another car.（你不該跟其他駕駛搶路爭道。）
If you’ve ever seen chickens pecking around for small bits of food, you can understand why3⃣ “chicken feed” means a small amount of money (wages or profits). Ex: I’m tired of working long hours for chicken feed. And if you’ve seen chickens scratching the ground, you can understand why 4⃣ “chicken scratch” means illegible handwriting. Ex: Ben left me a note, but I can’t understand his chicken scratch.
如果你看過雞在四周啄食米粒的樣子，你大概就會明白chicken feed為什麼有「微薄的一筆錢（薪水或利潤）」。如：I’m tired of working long hours for chicken feed.（我已經厭倦這份工時長收入又微薄的工作了。）又如果你也看過雞用爪子抓地面的樣子，也大概能理解，為何chicken scratch可以形容「字跡潦草」，如：Ben left me a note, but I can’t understand his chicken scratch.（班留紙條給我，但是我看不懂他的鬼畫符。）
Chickens are usually born in the spring, 5⃣ so a “spring chicken” refers to someone who’s still young. Ex: Your boyfriend is a little old, but you’re no spring chicken either. But even old chickens don’t go out without a fight. Even when they get their heads cut off, they often keep running around for a few seconds. For this reason, 6⃣ “run around like a chicken with its head cut off” is used to describe someone who is behaving in a frantic manner, usually because they have too much to do. Ex: Why is Patricia running around like a chicken with its head cut off?
雞通常出生於春天，所以spring chicken常用來指「年輕人，毛頭小子或姑娘」，如：Your boyfriend is a little old, but you’re no spring chicken either.（你男友是有點年紀，但你也不是毛頭小孩啊。）不過即使是老雞，也鬥志堅強。當雞隻頭被切下來，他們的身體還是能跑個幾秒鐘。因為這樣，所以run around like a chicken with its head cut off可以用來形容「如無頭蒼蠅忙碌」。如：Why is Patricia running around like a chicken with its head cut off?（為什麼派翠西亞要像個無頭蒼蠅一樣跑來跑去？）
【✍重點單字】
1. give in「讓步」
2. illegible「字跡難以辨認的」
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