Chicken in Malay Idioms

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

The first unofficial rule to learning Malay language idioms is, don't be levelheaded. A mother hen pecking around with a brood of tiny fluffy chicks is often used to symbolized motherly love. However in Malaysia, a "mother hen" when applied to a woman means she is a madam in charge of a brothel. Similarly, "father chicken" is a pimp. A man who doesn't work as a pimp can still be considered as the "father chicken" if he doesn't bother to take care of his children. So be careful, parenthood related to chicken is gross insult.

Next, you might like to learn to tease. Has anyone ever say to you he wishes to buy you a drink... but you know he does not mean it? We Malaysians call this "chicken invitation". This is probably due to another proverb "the warmth of chicken dung" which cools off quickly, referring to short-lived enthusiasm. Therefore "chicken invitation" even if the intention is genuine, lasts as long as "the warmth of the chicken dung", which is about five minutes.

"Chicken feet" is barefoot, a common sight in the rural areas ; also used to pull the legs of people who forget to put on their footwear. A chicken seems to scrawl on soil while looking for morsels. Of course no humans can decipher their writings. Hence, "chicken scrawl" is hardly legible, illegible or ugly. Hopefully your handwriting is not on a par with the chicken's. I better tell you when a Malay offers you "chicken scrawl", he is serving a delicious traditional Malay snack which has nothing to do with the idiom of the same name. "Chicken blindness" mimics the inability of chickens to see at dusk, also known as "night blindness", is a disease that has find its way into the collection of Malay idioms does not necessarily imply the person concerned is becoming blind. Mostly, it is to tease people who cannot see well at night such as drivers who should use eyeglasses.

The Malay speaking world must be so fascinated by cockfighting sport that a macho, daring guy is a kind of black speckled "gamecock". Don't start reasoning to yourself that a male chicken's instinctive urge to make rivals of all males of the same species is not equivalent to courage. Remember the first rule. Sometimes, gamecocks are tied to mooring posts reminiscent of gladiator fights. As the owner uses his best fowl in this instance so a "tied-up chicken" is the key player in sport matches, especially football, where he is expected to contribute towards victory. In English, "chicken" is hardly a hero but in Malay it is. Strange and true.

The second unofficial rule in learning Malay idioms is to accept its volatility. "Decoy chicken" was used to picture a human playing the same role. It seems this chicken is eaten up by a tiger that enters the trap and disappears from the list of Malay idioms. Not only "decoy chicken", many other "idioms" have either changed their meanings or quietly went missing in action.

Regardless of the consistently inconsistency of Malaysia's idioms, many of them inspired by the ubiquitous chicken will stay on, bwak!

Wan is an ordinary Malaysian who cannot help observing idiosyncrasies in Bahasa Malaysia, for more information on Bahasa Malaysia and Idioms, here.

Copyright 2007 - Wan Yee. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.