7th May 2017 | Lydia Munday Why did the chicken cross the road? English lesson for the day: ‘Chicken’ idioms and expressions. I saw this beautiful cockerel strutting across the road near Campo Marim, Algarve and thought about the joke below. Being a curious linguist, I started to reflect on all the expressions in English that include chickens/hens etc. and there are more than you would expect. “Why did the chicken cross the road?” is a common riddle joke. The answer or punch line is: “To get to the other side.” It is an example of anti-humor, in that the curious setup of the joke leads the listener to expect a traditional punchline, but they are instead given a simple statement of fact. (Wikipedia) Other expressions which include chickens or hens: Running around like a headless chicken What came first – the chicken or the egg? Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched. A hen night A cock-and-bull story Please add to the list if you can. And finally, I remembered that cockerels also speak different languages. In English they say “Cock-a-doodle-doo”, which probably sounds ridiculous in other languages. What do cockerels say in your language?