Many stable expressions convey the image of an object or action so expressively and vividly that it is difficult to find other words to describe them. This article discusses just such phraseology, which is best able to depict illegible handwriting.
The meaning of phraseology "like a chicken paw"
For many, illegible handwriting is associated with some kind of medical record, in which it is difficult to understand what is written. The expression “like a chicken paw” immediately comes to mind. The value of phraseology perfectly conveys the image of a sloppy manuscript. And it is often used not only by patients, but also by teachers who make comments to schoolchildren who do not differ in beautiful handwriting.
The phraseologism itself appears in sentences as an adverb and means “crookedly”, “sloppyly”, “sloppyly”, “carelessly”, “somehow”.
This expression is used to describe not only ugly writing, but also unprofessional drawing. Therefore, it is used for beginners or simply non-talented artists.
Etymology
Imagine a chicken. Unlike a person, she does not have arms, instead of them she has wings, instead of legs - legs. Well, how can she write then? The meaning of phraseology “like a chicken paw” does not imply the handwriting skills of this bird. It only speaks of sloppiness.
If you have ever seen a chicken, then surely remember how she likes to delve into the ground, on which traces remain after her. They can hardly be taken apart. Therefore, in humans, poor handwriting was associated with tricks of chicken paws. Due to observing the actions of this awkward and silly bird and saying aloud the expression, it has become firmly entrenched in our language, has become stable and is still used by us today.
Synonyms of phraseological units in Russian
This stable expression, as we noted above, can be replaced by the adverb “sloppy”. You can pick up different synonyms for him: somehow, ugly, sloppy, inaudible, careless, incomprehensible, nasty, bad. In this case, adverbs are used. There are also other synonymous words: sloppy, indistinct, obscure, vague, fuzzy and the like.
This phraseological unit can be replaced by similar in meaning stable expressions. For example: how magpie woke up. It has exactly the same interpretation as the expression “like a chicken paw”: the meaning of phraseology is “inaudible”, “clumsy”.
Synonyms in other languages
Probably all the languages of the world are rich in idioms. At the same time, many stable expressions have phraseological units that are synonymous in meaning in other languages. If we talk about the idiom we are considering, then there are a lot of phrases similar in meaning to it from foreigners. For example, in English there is the expression chicken scratch, which translates as "scratching chicken." It means illegible writing. The English idiom has a synonymous phraseological meaning "like a chicken paw." The French have a similar meaning. It sounds like this: Ecrire comme un chat. Literally, this translates as "writing like a cat."
M. I. Dubrovin, the author of many textbooks in English, translates the phraseology we are considering as follows: To write like a chicken with its claw. And if you want to share this expression with a foreigner, then feel free to use this translation.
Antonyms of phraseologism in Russian
Anyone is pleased to look at neat, legible handwriting. Especially for teachers when checking students' work. And they certainly won’t say about such a handwriting as “chicken paw”. The value of phraseology does not allow it to be used for such moments. Here we need words with the opposite meaning, antonyms. These include the following: understandable, legible, neat. A beautiful, skillful handwriting is usually called calligraphic.
If we talk about phraseological units-antonyms, then with some exaggeration we can cite the following as an example: “golden hands” and “rolled up their sleeves”.
Use of expression in the literature
“In the morning, we only do that we read letters of a certain person ... You scribbled up like a chicken paw. Apparently, she was in a hurry very much. ” This passage is taken from the novel “Pelagia and the Black Monk” by Boris Akunin. He conveys to readers an image of sloppy handwriting with the help of a steady “like chicken paw” turn. The meaning of phraseology is used by the author skillfully. With his help, he describes not only the handwriting, but also conveys the mood of the heroes of the novel.
Writers and poets love to use popular phrases. Since they are able to make the work bright and expressive. They are close, understandable to readers and easily perceived by them.
In his story "Sasha Chekalin" V. I. Smirnov also uses the revolution in question: "You write like a chicken with your paw ... you can’t make out."
As we can see, in the literature, as a rule, this phraseological unit is used to describe illegible writing. In colloquial speech, it is used in various situations: in assessing handwriting, artistic skills, and certain actions.
Using expression in colloquial speech
Without noticing it, we often use catchphrases. They are so firmly included in our vocabulary that sometimes it is difficult to do without them. For example, the same expression “how to write chicken paw”. Phraseologisms of this kind are often found in the speech of teachers, patients, parents. All those who encounter someone else's ugly handwriting.
The expression can be used as self-criticism. For example, when someone learns to draw, he tries, but he doesn’t succeed and his paintings look like little things. In such a situation, I want to express myself colorfully, and not just say “it doesn’t work out”, “ugly”. Such words are unable to convey the full force of disappointment, self-criticism and irony. Need an idiom that conveys the necessary value. The words "how to write chicken paw" at such moments fit perfectly. They describe both the work and the abilities of a grief artist.
Other phraseologisms with the word "chicken"
The Russian language is rich in winged expressions, where the characters are various animals. The chicken was not spared. And no wonder! After all, none of the other animals is capable of depicting a stupid creature as well as she.
When talking about a limp, depressed person, they use the phrase “wet chicken”. And this is no coincidence. The origin of this expression is due to the fact that it is this animal that gets wet in the rain and has a sad appearance when others, for example, geese and ducks, do not lose their appearance due to water.
Hassle and fuss over the worthless characterizes the phrase "rush like a chicken with an egg." It involves prolonged and useless chores.
When talking about a poorly seeing person, they use the phrase "blind chicken." Also, this expression is used in the meaning of "short-sighted, not thinking about tomorrow."
If someone unexpectedly got into an unpleasant situation, then they say that he got "like hens in the pluck." But if the origin of the expression is associated with the lethal outcome of poultry, then for people this turn means simply unfortunate circumstances.
Those who are not smart are said to have “chicken brains”. Assessing people's low intellectual abilities is not limited to just one expression. There are other phrases, for example, “chicken memory” (ie, short).
There is an expression "crazy like a chicken." It is applied to a person who too expressively defends his point of view, is indignant or justified.
The chaotic movement is characterized by the expression "roam like a chicken." It happened due to the behavior of this poultry, its illogical routes.
When talking about a stupid and ridiculous act and incident, use the expression "chickens to laugh." This is due to the fact that this bird itself is comical. She does not fly, and even timid and stupid.
As we can see, there are a lot of “chicken” phraseological units, and most likely, we have not all remembered. These winged expressions are often used in colloquial speech, and in literature.
Conclusion
Phraseologisms decorate our speech, make it lively, imaginative. Especially such expressions in which various animals are mentioned. With the help of them, a comparative characteristic of human behavior is given. When using "animal" phraseological units, images become brighter, sharper, more comical and ironic. Therefore, knowledge of such expressions is useful for enriching the vocabulary.
In this article, we examined the popular phraseology “like a chicken paw”, the meaning of which is “sloppy” and “clumsy”. We learned what synonyms can replace this idiom, how it is used by foreigners, how it is used in literature and in colloquial speech. We also examined other phraseological units with the word “chicken”. There were a lot of them. And they all came to us from the people and firmly entered into our speech.