This week’s Aussie slang is something that is found in many people’s fridges. It is important that it is kept refrigerated below 4°C, or else there is a risk of food poisoning. It can be an ingredient in a wide variety of savoury dishes. You can slice it, cut it into chunks, or buy it as mince. It can be found at the supermarket as tenders, breasts, thighs, drumsticks, wings or even as a whole bird. Can you tell what it is yet?
A chook can also refer to the living animal that the meat comes from. Some people keep chooks in their back gardens for their eggs. I think you must know what it is by now. That’s right, a ‘chook’ is a chicken.
During my research I discovered that some Aussies are so used to saying ‘chook’ that they feel uncomfortable using the word ‘chicken’ as they think it is too formal. I was a little surprised when I read this, but I thought it was kind of cute, too.
The word ‘chook’ has been around for a very long time. There was an entry in The Australasian (a Melbourne newspaper) way back in 1891, and it’s very common in Australian and New Zealand English. Its origins, though, can be traced back to British English ‘chuck’ which comes from ‘chick‘.
I can’t write a post on chook and not mention a very popular grocery item at Aussie supermarkets, a roast chook. Whole chickens are roasted in store, then put into individual plastic bags to make them easy to carry. As a result of its physical presentation, it’s become known by the fun expression ‘a bachelor’s handbag’.
Example:
I grabbed a bachelor’s handbag at the shops earlier today. So, let’s make some chook sandwiches for lunch.
Do you have ‘bachelor handbags’ at the supermarkets in your country? Perhaps you have something similar. You can let me know in the comments section below.
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Glossary
fridge – an abbreviation of refrigerator, a piece of kitchen equipment that uses electricity to preserve food at a cold temperature
food poisoning – an illness usually caused by eating food that contains harmful bacteria
ingredient – a food that is used with other foods in the preparation of a particular dish
savoury – Savoury food is salty or spicy and not sweet in taste.
tender – a small piece of chicken breast meat, usually breaded and fried, or a cut of chicken from the tenderloin
breast – the meat from the front part of the body of a bird or other animal
thigh – dark meat that comes from the top part of a chicken’s leg
drumstick – the lower part of the leg of a chicken or similar bird eaten as food
wing – the wing of a chicken eaten as food
chick – a baby bird, especially a young chicken
in store adverb [also in-store, instore] – in a shop
bachelor – a man who has never married
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