Talk:chickenshit

Bullshit

I realize that many people use "chickenshit" as a synonym or intensified version of the slang "chicken," but this is a misuse. "Chickenshit" is a play on the word "bullshit," and people who use it otherwise are mistaken.

I also realize many people think that nobody ever uses a word wrongly, that words mean whatever a given user means by them, whatever they appear to mean by context, etc. I am not one of those people. :) See "peruse" for a similar case of a word that is commonly used incorrectly, but has a real meaning supported by its etymology. Silarius

Example

I think the canonical version of the following story would be a great example here. Here's a botched version for clicks:

In the mouth of Bush 41: "I went to see Lyndon Johnson, and I was telling him I wanted to run for Senate. And he said, "The difference between the Senate and the House is the difference between chicken salad and chicken shit." Johnson was amazing." [1]

This exchange would presumably have happened when Bush 41 was a representative and right before he ran for Senate, probably 1969 / 1970. The reveal of this story would have happened decades(?) later.

I remember seeing Bush 43 giving his rendition of this story in an interview, but I don't know if that's the earliest or most interesting form or not. --Geographyinitiative (talk) 21:59, 21 January 2021 (UTC)