Jewish penicillin
1
4.9
- noun
- /ˈdʒuːɪʃ pəˈnɪsɪlɪn/
- Informal
:
sopa de pollo
- The restaurant’s menu boasts homemade Jewish penicillin just like mom used to make.
Examples
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My grandmother always makes a big pot of Jewish penicillin when I come down with a cold.
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Whenever I'm sick, I turn to Jewish penicillin to feel better; there's nothing like chicken soup.
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Many people swear by Jewish penicillin as the best remedy for a common cold.
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My grandmother always made Jewish penicillin whenever anyone in the family was feeling under the weather.
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My grandmother always made Jewish penicillin when I was sick.
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Have you ever tried Jewish penicillin for a cold?
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They say that Jewish penicillin is the best remedy for the flu because of its comforting warmth.
Synonyms
24
1.0
A hot soup made with chicken and vegetables that people eat for comfort when sick
16
1.0
A clear warm liquid made by cooking chicken slowly to add flavor to soups
How Soothing
Surface Forms
Morphology
Jewish + penicillin
The phrase pairs a cultural adjective 'Jewish' with 'penicillin' (a well-known medicine), so a learner who knows both words will likely infer it denotes a culturally associated remedy with healing/comforting qualities. However the mapping to the specific item (chicken soup) and the idiomatic cultural nuance are metaphorical and require extra world knowledge, so the meaning is not fully derivable from the parts.
Etymology
The noun Jewish penicillin is a funny name for 'chicken soup' that Jewish grandmothers often give to sick people, and calling it penicillin makes the image of a simple home cure. So, the phrase means 'a comforting remedy' used to help with colds and minor illnesses.