83:, chickenshit in this sense has military roots: "Chickenshit refers to behavior that makes military life worse than it need be: petty harassment of the weak by the strong; open scrimmage for power and authority and prestige; sadism thinly disguised as necessary discipline; a constant 'paying off of old scores'; and insistence on the letter rather than the spirit of the ordinances ... Chickenshit is so called—instead of horse—or bull—or elephant shit—because it is small-minded and ignoble and takes the trivial seriously."
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out of chicken shit" is sometimes used as a variant of "you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear". The expression dates back to at least the 1920s, when "chicken feathers" was sometimes used as a euphemism for chicken shit.
63:. It can be used as either a noun or an adjective; it is always an insult. In October 2014, an unnamed senior official in the Obama administration was reported to have called Israeli prime minister
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The alternate meaning of "petty, insignificant nonsense" may be used as either a noun or an adjective. According to Paul
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51:(one word) as a vulgar adjective with two possible meanings: "petty, insignificant" or "lacking courage, manliness, or effectiveness".
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once said, "I may not know much, but I do know the difference between chicken shit and chicken salad."
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The New
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a "chickenshit", adding that he "has got no guts". Secretary of State
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This article is about the slang term. For the organic fertilizer, see
201:. Vol. I (reprint ed.). Taylor & Francis. p. 389.
401:"Ranking the Presidential Obscenities: 8 Foul Presidential Quotes"
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Wartime: Understanding and
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The term has been used figuratively since 1929 to allege
224:"The Crisis in U.S.-Israel Relations Is Officially Here"
330:. Oxford Paperbacks (cited at Johnshaplin.blogspot.com)
376:"You can't make chicken salad out of chicken shit"
248:McCarthy, Tom; Roberts, Dan (October 30, 2014).
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278:"Israelis Wonder: What's a 'Chickenshit'?"
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222:Goldberg, Jeffrey (October 28, 2014).
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135:On Bullshit
48:chickenshit
431:Categories
157:References
87:Other uses
69:John Kerry
16:Slang term
61:cowardice
129:Bullshit
107:See also
415:May 29,
334:7 April
81:Wartime
33:, is a
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447:Feces
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