Word usage in English dialects // was Slang, curses and vulgarities

Tristan McLeay wrote:

> damn good ads, if I say so myself). The association between 'bloody
> idiot' and drink-driving is still current, though,
It isn't here, and hasn't been for over a decade. But I remember it fondly.

> I tend to have chook for the animal, whole, and chicken for the animal
> as food. Things like 'a chicken' is as ungrammatical to my ear as 'a
> beef'. If you're having chicken for dinner, you might be having a whole
> bird, or you might be having chicken wings. If you're having a chook
> for dinner, you're eating the whole bird (well, minus the head,
> feathers, guts). Presumably roasted. Some people might say they're
> having chook for dinner (note no article), but this seems derogatory to
> me, if you could speak offensively of chooks.
I don't agree with this: "a chicken" is perfectly grammatical to me in
the context of "Shall I go down the shop and get a chicken for tea?"

A few people say "chook" for all purposes, including references to
food. My cousin, for one.

Adrian.

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