Had a bit of a twist on this in the military. If something was chicken shit, it
was contemptible, but not necessarily timid. For example, making troops just
coming off a 12-hour shift in a combat zone wash down their hooches, edge
pavements and other stuff because some general was coming for a visit was
considered chicken shit. (On the other hand, it could be argued this
demonstrated a certain degree of timidity on the part of local brass.)
I once was part of a successful military mutiny that occurred because during
the winter monsoons in Vietnam, a new post commander inspected our quarters and
was disgusted by the display of pinups, and by the fact that there was mud in
our living spaces, never mind that water was running higher than the entrances.
He ordered us to pull down the pinups and figure out how to make rising water
go down. We considered this chicken shit in extremis.
The nature of our operations precludes me from enumerating specifics, so let's
just say that beginning at a certain time there was an uncharacteristic silence
across the electromagnetic spectrum, which in short order caught the attention
of certain individuals at Ft. Meade, MD, who then inquired as to the nature of
this silence, and when it was explained, read the aforementioned post commander
the ever-loving riot act.
The next day we were formed up and marched to an assembly area. There were
several hundred of us in formation. We had to march about a quarter mile. And
although we were being marched by non-commissioned officers sympathetic to the
post commander, we nevertheless twisted the knife while marching in perfect
formation by whistling the theme from Bridge Over the River Kwai. Orders to be
silent were steadfastly ignored. At the assembly, the post commander
"clarified" his orders, contradicting them but rescinding them while saying he
was doing no such thing.
We were dismissed in place. They did not march us back.
A less scatological synonym for chicken shit would be "mickey mouse."
--Bob Whitmire
3.9% Neanderthal and Proud of It!
On May 17, 2013, at 11:38 PM, Moose wrote:
> On 5/14/2013 5:34 AM, Chris Barker wrote:
>> Just as well, but I don't think that it means that.
>
> M-W says:
> "pusillanimous*:* lacking courage and resolution *:* marked by contemptible
> timidity " Other dictionaries of US English
> are about the same.
>
> Sounds exactly like a definition of "chicken shit" in US slang usage.
>
> Well Defined Moose
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