Idiom: 'to be a such a chicken'

[Raghvendra]

English Language Tests, Intermediate level

ESL/EFL Test #201 "Idioms about Animals", question 8

He's so nervous. I wish for once he'd stop being such a ..........

(a) fish
(b) rabbit
(c) chicken

English Language Tests, Intermediate level

ESL/EFL Test #201 "Idioms about Animals", answer 8

He's so nervous. I wish for once he'd stop being such a chicken.

Correct answer: (c) chicken
_________________________

May be as a rabbit, because rabbit arenervous. Is it true?

[Yankee]

Hi

It's true that rabbits are nervous and shy, but saying "someone is (a) chicken" is a standard way to say that someone is nervous and/or afraid.

Amy

[Alan]

Hi Raghvendra,

As Amy has explained being chicken (mostly without the indefinite article), has the sense of being scared to do something and as a mild form of abuse someone can call out: Chicken to indicate that they think the other person is acting scared. If you use the word rabbit, you would more than likely embroider it a bit and say: You are behaving rather like a rabbit or being a bit of a rabbit. Simply to call out 'rabbit' to someone wouldn't work. As we're in the world of animals, to rabbit as a verb is talk endlessly.

Alan
_________________
English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story In touch