"Cock the Hamburger": the meaning and history of the occurrence of the phrase

"Cock the Hamburger" - this expression is familiar to many, but not everyone knows what it means and how it came to us in everyday life. There are many versions of the appearance of this winged expression, but we will consider the most popular ones.

The film that gave us a catch phrase

Indeed, the expression "cock hamburger" appeared on the ears of many citizens of the former Soviet Union after the release of the famous comic comedy "Gentlemen of Fortune." The hero of this film (who was masterfully played by Evgeny Leonov), after being jailed, tries to use prison jargon and threatens the cellmates with the phrase, which reads: "Sausage! Sausage! Nubuchodonosor! A rooster of Hamburg! "

It is in this jargon, according to the creators of the comedy film, that thieves and hardened repeat offenders should talk to each other. Among the phrases of the film, which became winged, not everyone was deciphered. If the "radish" on the thieves' slang of cinematic criminals means "a bad person", then the phrase "Cock Hamburger" remained without deciphering.

The fact is that many people thought: such a sonorous expression is the fruit of the fantasy of the creators of the film "Gentlemen of Fortune." However, this is not at all the case. The director of the film Alexander Gray himself claimed that when creating the film, the script writers used the jargon of the then-known jargon.

What does this expression mean?

On the one hand, there is nothing intricate in the phrase "the Hamburg hamburger" seems to be. All is clear - this is a breed of roosters. And such a breed does exist. But about this a little later, first we will understand the meaning of this expression.

If we open the Dictionary of Russian Argo, we will see a very clear designation for this phrase: "dude, a fashionable man who follows his appearance, but is also conceited by it."

In the "Big Dictionary of Russian Sayings" the phrase stands for "agile, quick guy."

Religious meaning of the phrase

There is another version of the meaning of this winged phrase. This expression is used in Judaism, the expression is known only to a few initiate.

In Judaism this bird was considered as a kosher (suitable from the point of view of religious canons) food. An ancient legend says that it was Hamburg that was the place where a dispute arose over the notorious rooster. It was like this: one of the birds was without heart when cutting. This was an outrageous case, so 2 rabbis began to argue about whether a bird can be considered kosher without a heart. After all, the rabbi who cut the bird, claimed that the heart was at the very beginning, it was just lost somewhere during the cutting of the cock.

This dispute was so widely publicized that many knowledgeable experts joined it. Physiologists claimed that in nature there were recorded cases when birds lived without such an important organ as the heart. His role was simply performed by other bodies. This version put an end to the dispute, the cock was considered fit for food, and the incident itself became known to the whole world. Now the phrase "Hamburger Rooster" simply means a controversial situation. Only with time, people started to call it, boasting of its appearance.

What are the characteristics of the cocks of the Hamburg breed?

Hamburg cocks are known since ancient times, they have proven themselves in the world market as the most productive breed. The appearance of the bird is very beautiful, attracting attention. They come in many colors: golden, white, black, blue, black, mottled and spotty. Probably, the appearance of these hens played a significant role in the fact that dudes - people who boast of their appearance - began to be called Hamburgers.

They named this breed of chickens because it was derived by the Hamburg mayor, Carl Friedrich Petersen. Thanks to many years of experience in crossing different breeds of chickens, geese, ducks and turkeys, a cold-resistant, unpretentious breed with very delicate and tasty meat appeared. The Hamburg chickens are not only very beautiful, but also quite useful and productive. Unlike the negative meaning of the expression "Hamburger Rooster", the chickens themselves have a fairly good reputation among birds of this kind.

"The Hamburg Cock": the meaning of the phrase in the modern world

Whatever it was, but now this phrase is more used in prison slang and has a very unpleasant meaning. In prison jargon, the "Hamburg rooster" is an expression for a man who has been raped. Perhaps by coincidence, but the German city of Hamburg is now the capital of men with non-traditional orientation.

If you do not take prison jargon into account, this phrase means a fashionista, an idol and a young man overestimating himself.

We just have to guess: "Why did the breed of chickens so well proven become a symbol of bombast and conceit?" Perhaps because many people who boast of their appearance are known to be heartless handsome men? Or maybe because the luxurious plumage of a bird parodies in some way the outlandish outfits of some young people?