henpecked = unter dem Pantoffel stehen
Shanghai Husbands "Most HENPECKED in China"
(eChinaCities English language news portal)
henpecked
adjective
- (of a man) to be dominated or harassed with persistent nagging by one’s wife
(Collins English Dictionary)
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The verb "henpeck" and the adjective "henpecked" stem from the idea of a hen that runs around the barnyard or chicken coop pecking at one of the unlucky roosters.
Apart from henpecked, there are a surprising number of idioms, expressions and phrases that stem from the chicken world. Following is a small sample:
- chicken feed = a small amount of anything, especially money (My first job out of college paid chicken feed)
- no spring chicken = no longer young (I may be no spring chicken, but I can still beat you at tennis)
- fly the coop = to escape, leave, get away (I flew the coop as soon as I turned 18)
- like a chicken with its head cut off = chaotic, with no direction (The team was running around like a chicken with its head cut off until they replaced the department manager)
- up with the chickens = to wake up early and get started (She must get up with the chickens. She is always in the office before anyone else.)
- egg on your face = to be embarrassed (If we don’t finish on time, we’ll have egg on our face)
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SYNONYMS
browbeaten, docile, led by the nose, meek, obedient, submissive, under her thumb, whipped
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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation, say something like:
"He may act macho at work, but they say at home he is really HENPECKED."