Word Origins

While Stacey is on vacation at Disneyland, I am watching over the animals.  All of her animals. She has 3 Munchkin cats, (all with varying degrees of friendliness,  3 Dogs (all who have varying degrees of listening skills!) 2 bearded dragons and their 14 baby bearded dragons! Yeah, feeding them is kind of gross. They eat worms, but meal worms?  And meal worms are gross!  Then there are her 40 some-odd Chickens and 1 Rooster.
 
I love the chickens, I love collecting the eggs and checking on the new baby Chickens.  I love CB or CrookedBeak. (That's her in the top picture) Of course my sister would have an chicken who has a slight disability and that is what crooked beak has; her bottom beak turns one way and her top beak turns down, and that makes pecking food very difficult. (I give her extra piles of food because she is sweet.) The rooster, on the other hand... is mean! (That's him on the right, warming-up the pipes.)

He charged me the other day, kicked both of his feet up in the air and punched me with his feet!  Then, I try to gently shoo at him and he makes contact with my leg.  I got a couple of scratches right under my knee but he was fighting me?  Crazy bird. 
I couldn't concentrate on feeding the other chickens because he would rush at me with my back turned, then stop, walk around slowly, cock-a-doodle-doo,  pretending the entire time he never kicked me! And I know he did! That is a chicken shit.

 
That got me to thinking.  Is that were the term Chicken Shit comes from?  I did a little reading and one of the definitions was cowardly or fainthearted but the word origin is Latin from courda meaning tail. The English version came from the French word couard which also means tail.  I guess it could be referring to anyone or thing that turns tail or tucks it tail between it's legs but I never saw that it was in direct reference to a Rooster! Darn it!  

Enjoy!