Like a Chicken with Its Head Cut Off

The expression “like a chicken with its head cut off” which means “in a frenzied manner” is relatively self explanatory.

However, to those learning English who have never been on a farm, this could be a rather odd expression.

The expression comes from observing the behavior of chickens after their heads have beencut off.

For some reason, a chicken is able to run around for a short period of time even without itshead. Of course, since they have no sense of direction and are in a state of panic, they run around in frenzied manner.

Like a Chicken with its Head Cut Off

To say that you are running around “like a chicken with its head cut off” means that you are in a frenzied and maybe slightlypanicked state. Many times this phrase also indicates lack of direction or even going in all different directions. In general, this phrase is used of someone who is in a big hurry and has little time to accomplish what they want to accomplish. Here is an example:

I thought the meeting was this afternoon, so I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off trying to prepare for it.

Here is another example of how this phrase is used:

http://www.active.com/running/Articles/Where_running_like_a_chicken_with_its_head_cut_off_is_a_badge_of_honor.htm

(see title and first three lines of article)