yellow belly
a person with no courage
TRANSLATION
yellow belly = der Feigling, der Hasenfuß, Waschlappen yellow-belly gecko = Indischer Hausgecko --- GOOGLE INDEXyellow belly: approximately 411,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
John Wayne escaped military duty in World War II, but then in Vietnam, he had the audacity to call people who resisted the war, and risked jail, YELLOW BELLIES.
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yellow belly
informal
- a person who is easily scared or intimidated
- a person who is without courage, fortitude, or nerve
Random House Dictionary
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The colour yellow has long been associated with cowardice, treachery and jealousy. Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable says the doors of traitors were once painted yellow in France. Medieval pictures of Judas Iscariot were often shown in yellow, leading some countries to pass laws that Jews must be clothed in yellow because they betrayed Jesus.
In addition, medieval medicine assumed there were four major fluids that determined the physical condition, one of which is yellow bile produced by the gall bladder that can cause one to be irritable. Given that the word "guts" is synonymous with courage and is also another word for the stomach, it's easy to see how the expression yellow belly may have developed into its current meaning for a coward.
While yellow belly was popularised in Western films (it was the absolute worst way to offend someone), the expression was used much earlier in a different context as a humorous way to describe the residents of Lincolnshire England. The reasons for this are unclear.
One theory relates to a breed of frog commonly found in the Lincolnshire Fens that is yellow on its underside. Another explanation is that sheep grazing in mustard fields were dusted by pollen from the blossom that turned their undersides yellow.
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SYNONYMS
chicken liver, chicken, coward, fainthearted, fraidy-cat, invertebrate, jellyfish, lily liver, malingerer, mouse, quitter, rabbit, scaredy cat, shirker, weakling, white liver, weenie, wimp
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SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION:
"It's hardly fair to call people who won't bungee jump yellow bellies."
informal
- a person who is easily scared or intimidated
- a person who is without courage, fortitude, or nerve
Random House Dictionary
---
The colour yellow has long been associated with cowardice, treachery and jealousy. Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable says the doors of traitors were once painted yellow in France. Medieval pictures of Judas Iscariot were often shown in yellow, leading some countries to pass laws that Jews must be clothed in yellow because they betrayed Jesus.
In addition, medieval medicine assumed there were four major fluids that determined the physical condition, one of which is yellow bile produced by the gall bladder that can cause one to be irritable. Given that the word "guts" is synonymous with courage and is also another word for the stomach, it's easy to see how the expression yellow belly may have developed into its current meaning for a coward.
While yellow belly was popularised in Western films (it was the absolute worst way to offend someone), the expression was used much earlier in a different context as a humorous way to describe the residents of Lincolnshire England. The reasons for this are unclear.
One theory relates to a breed of frog commonly found in the Lincolnshire Fens that is yellow on its underside. Another explanation is that sheep grazing in mustard fields were dusted by pollen from the blossom that turned their undersides yellow.
---
SYNONYMS
chicken liver, chicken, coward, fainthearted, fraidy-cat, invertebrate, jellyfish, lily liver, malingerer, mouse, quitter, rabbit, scaredy cat, shirker, weakling, white liver, weenie, wimp
---
SMUGGLE OWAD INTO TODAY'S CONVERSATION:
"It's hardly fair to call people who won't bungee jump yellow bellies."
