Often you can find such a turn: "He / she sits on the neck of his parents." And when it is not about small children, then the speakers know exactly what is meant. "Sitting on the neck" means being non-self-reliant and dependent on someone. This is most often said when a person lives at someone else’s expense, for example, parents, brothers or sisters. Let's talk about this in more detail, as well as highlight the dark place where this saying came from.
People and horses
It is assumed that phraseological unit comes from the dictionary of riders. They say so when they completely subordinate the horse to their will. Logical version. Indeed, the expression “sit on the neck” means that a young healthy person (gender does not matter) is in the care of his parents, not because he has any reason for this, but because he is so comfortable living. He also subjugated his parents to his will, like a horse rider.
But do not think that the "rider" in this case is all to blame. On the contrary, it is probably the parents who are to blame, since they did not instill in the child a love of work and did not teach them to honor and respect other people's efforts. Therefore, dad and mom are paying for their mistakes.
If the sick and crippled decided to sit on the neck, then in this society does not find anything reprehensible. “Special people” have objective reasons why they cannot work on an equal basis with everyone. The paradox of human nature is that the sick and crippled just want to work, because they see this as the realization of their own personality, and healthy people do not, because work is so tiring, and there are so many more interesting things in the world.
This is an eternal story. Some jump from the windows from unrequited love, thus renouncing life, while others cling painfully to being, waiting for donor organs from those who took their life’s accounts in some way that did not damage the insides.
The psychological interpretation of phraseology
You can look at the problem from the other side. But what if the phrase “sitting on the neck” has psychological depth? Young children love to ride on dad’s back. Thus, a son or daughter plays the role of a rider, and dad plays the role of a horse. And note, only small children ride on a parent, if an adult decided to climb an elderly father, then everyone who would see this picture would turn their fingers at the temple.
The same thing happens when an adult full-fledged person lives at the expense of his parents. He, as it were, degenerates to a childhood state. In other words, the saying also captures the ultimate infantility of the son (or daughter), who is not at all ashamed to lead an idle life.