“Hamburg Rooster” - this expression is familiar to many, but not everyone knows what it means and how it came to our everyday life. There are many versions of the appearance of this winged expression, but we will consider the most popular ones.
The film that gave us the catch phrase
Indeed, the expression "Hamburg rooster" appeared on the ears of many citizens of the former Soviet Union after the publication of the famous comedy "Gentlemen of Fortune". The hero of this film (which was masterfully played by Yevgeny Leonov), once in jail, tries to use prison jargon and threatens his cellmates with a phrase that reads as follows: “Sausage! Sausage! Nubuchadnezzar! Hamburg Rooster! ”
It is in such jargon, according to the creators of the comedy film, that thieves and inveterate recidivists should talk among themselves. Among the phrases of the film that became winged, not all were deciphered. If the “radish” in the thieves ’slang of filmmakers means“ bad man ”, the phrase“ Rooster of Hamburg ”was left without decoding.
It is a fact that many people thought: such a resounding expression is the imagination of the creators of the film "Gentlemen of Fortune." However, this is not at all true. The director of the film, Alexander Sery, himself claimed that the scriptwriters used the then-famous prison slang when creating the film.
What does this expression mean?
On the one hand, there seems to be nothing intricate in the phrase "Hamburg rooster". Everything is clear - this is a breed of roosters. And such a breed does exist. But more on that later, first we will deal with the meaning of this expression.
If we open the Dictionary of Russian Argo, we will see a very clear designation of this phrase - "dude, a fashionable person who looks after his appearance, but is also conceited by this."
In the "Great Dictionary of Russian Sayings," the phrase means "agile, quick guy."
The religious meaning of the phrase
There is another version of the meaning of this catchphrase. This expression is used in Judaism, the expression is known only to a few initiates.
In Judaism, this bird was considered as kosher (suitable from the point of view of religious canons) food. An ancient legend says that it was Hamburg that was the place where the controversy erupted around the notorious rooster. It was like this: one of the birds when cutting was without a heart. It was a blatant case, so 2 rabbis began to argue about whether a bird without a heart can be considered kosher. After all, the rabbi who was carving the bird claimed that the heart was at the very beginning, it was simply lost somewhere during the cutting of the rooster.
This dispute was so widely publicized that many knowledgeable experts joined it. Physiologists argued that in nature there were cases when birds lived without such an important organ as the heart. His role was simply played by other bodies. This version put an end to the dispute, the rooster was recognized as edible, and the incident itself became known throughout the world. Now the phrase "Hamburg rooster" simply means a controversial situation. Only with time did they begin to call people bragging about their appearance.
What are the features of the Hamburg breed cocks?
Hamburg roosters are known since ancient times, they have established themselves in the world market as the most productive breed. The appearance of the bird is very beautiful, attracting attention. They come in different colors: golden, white, black, blue, black, colorful and spotted. Probably, the appearance of these hens played a significant role in the fact that dudes - people who brag about their appearance - were called Hamburg roosters.
This breed of chickens was called so because it was bred by the Hamburg burgomaster Karl Friedrich Petersen. Thanks to many years of experience in crossing different breeds of chickens, geese, ducks and turkeys, a cold-resistant, unpretentious breed with very tender and tasty meat appeared.
Hamburg chickens are not only very beautiful, but also quite useful and productive. In contrast to the negative meaning of the expression “Hamburg rooster,” the chickens themselves have a pretty good reputation among birds of this kind.
"Hamburg Rooster": the meaning of the phrase in the modern world
Be that as it may, but now this phrase is more used in prison slang and has a very unpleasant meaning. In prison jargon, “Hamburg rooster” is an expression denoting a man who has been raped. Perhaps by coincidence, but the German city of Hamburg is now known as the capital of men with an unconventional orientation.
If you do not take into account prison jargon, this phrase means a fashionista, an arrogant and overestimating young man.
We can only speculate: “Why did the so well-recommended breed of chickens become a symbol of pomp and conceit?” Perhaps due to the fact that many people who brag about their appearance are known as heartless beauties? Or maybe because the luxurious plumage of a bird in some way mimics the outlandish outfits of some young people?