Mr Chicken = ?
December 8, 2008 5:26 AM   Subscribe

Help me encourage my baby Nephew to become multilingual (when he starts speaking!). His favourite toy is has been named "Mr. Chicken" in English. What would Mr Chicken be called on other languages? As many as possible please!

When he's older, I'd like to give him some kind of momento of his favourite toy as a gift (e.g. book, poster), that lists his toy's name in as many languages as possible. I can look up the words easily enough, but I need to ensure the grammar/context is correct. Mr Chicken doesn't appear as a phrase on most translation websites! :)
posted by monkeyforest to Writing & Language (26 answers total)
 
FWIW, Mr. Chicken = 'Herr Hahn' auf Deutsch.

Are you multilingual? Do you or his parents speak more than one language at home? That's probably going to be the easiest/most natural way for your nephew to become multilingual. Putting translations of 'Mr. Chicken' on a poster seems, well... kind of hokey and not very likely to succeed.
posted by dunkadunc at 5:39 AM on December 8, 2008 [2 favorites]


Dahk-shi (Korean)

Dahk meaning chicken and shi denotes Mr.
posted by like_neon at 5:45 AM on December 8, 2008


Señor pollo (Spanish) [The "ll" is pronounced like "y," POH-yo.]
Monsieur poulet (French)
posted by bonobo at 5:50 AM on December 8, 2008


Senor Pollo (Spanish).
Monsieur Poule (French).
posted by box at 5:51 AM on December 8, 2008


Response by poster: dunkadunc, this is more of a kooky gift idea than a conscious effort to get him into other languauges, and a reminder of his favourite toy when he's older, but if it at least gives him an appreciation of other languages then that's a bonus.
posted by monkeyforest at 5:56 AM on December 8, 2008


Japanese = Tori-san (tori=chicken, san=mister) Or you could call him Sir Chicken (Tori-sama)
posted by jfwlucy at 6:00 AM on December 8, 2008


Whatever works, really. Have fun with the poster!
posted by dunkadunc at 6:16 AM on December 8, 2008


More accurate Japanese would be Niwatori-san. In the context of food, tori does mean chicken, but it literally translates as "bird."
posted by Faint of Butt at 6:19 AM on December 8, 2008


Bwana kuku (Kiswahili)
posted by shrabster at 6:39 AM on December 8, 2008


Horoz Bay (Turkish)
posted by ocherdraco at 7:11 AM on December 8, 2008


Ji Xiansheng (Mandarin Chinese), pronounced jee-syen-shung

Gai Seen Saang (Cantonese Chinese)
ji/gai = chicken, xiansheng/seen saang = Mr.
posted by kitkatcathy at 7:26 AM on December 8, 2008


kip is Dutch for chicken
posted by Confess, Fletch at 7:54 AM on December 8, 2008


Response by poster: Thanks everyone!
posted by monkeyforest at 7:55 AM on December 8, 2008


Meneer Kip in dutch.
posted by phrontist at 7:55 AM on December 8, 2008


(pronounced muh neer kip)
posted by phrontist at 7:56 AM on December 8, 2008


Mr. Chicken is "Herre Kylling " in danish. Not sure how to show you how to pronounce it, though. It's kind of like "kooling" but not really. Hmmm...
posted by Barry B. Palindromer at 8:12 AM on December 8, 2008


Greek: Kyrios Kota

Pronounced (kee-ree-os Ko-ta)
posted by damn dirty ape at 8:56 AM on December 8, 2008


In Vietnamese: "Bác Gà" or "Chú Gà"
("Bac ga" or "Chu ga" if the unicode characters don't show up on your screen)

gà = chicken
bác = mister (formal / respectful / same generation as your parents but older)
chú = mister (informal / same generation as your parents but younger)

I'd go into enunciation, but from your later comments I'd say we're better off not getting into that thick black box right now.

Have fun!
posted by thisisnotbruce at 9:24 AM on December 8, 2008 [1 favorite]


Herr Kyckling in Swedish.
Pronounced shik-ling.

If you at some point want to say mister rooster, it's herr tupp.
posted by Iteki at 10:20 AM on December 8, 2008


Romanian: Domnul Pui
Icelandic: Herra Kjúklingur
Hungarian: Úr Házityúk (pretty sure; still learning!)
posted by the luke parker fiasco at 10:37 AM on December 8, 2008


@thisisnotbruce: You beat me to the Vietnamese punch. How about Ông Gà as well? Ông = Mister (formal/respectful/probably less appropriate than Bác or Chú). Thought I'd toss that in.
posted by aloneinvietnam at 10:58 AM on December 8, 2008


In English, "Mr. Chicken" is "Rooster."
posted by ethnomethodologist at 2:02 PM on December 8, 2008 [3 favorites]


Senhor Frango in Portuguese.
posted by msali at 2:39 PM on December 8, 2008


Hindi: Murgi Saab
posted by asras at 7:52 PM on December 8, 2008


Greek: Kyrios Kota

The genders clash there, but I wouldn't count on the Nephew getting to pronounce Kyrios Kotopoulos. Kotopoulos is a jokesy form, but sounds better.

co-to-poo-los

corn-toni- poo - lost
posted by ersatz at 11:03 AM on December 9, 2008


Arabic:

As-sayyid Dajaaj
السيد دجاج
posted by kosmonaut at 11:19 PM on December 12, 2008


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