A: I saw Mary this morning. She ran around the Metro station like a chicken with its head cut off. I was in a hurry and didn’t talk to her. What’s up? B: She was looking for her lost bag. A: Did she find it? B: Luckily, a college student found it on the Metro and brought it to the service center at the next station. Note: This idiom means to “act in a frenzied manner.” This graphic simile alludes to the fact that the body of a chicken whose head has been cut off sometimes totters about crazily. The phrase was known in the United States by the late 19th century. It is recorded in print being used as a simile from the 1880s. Interestingly, a Chinese term uses a “fly” instead of a “chicken” which has a similar meaning. |