like finding a hen's hiney
- idiom
- Informal
:
como encontrar un huevo de oro
- A parking spot downtown on a Friday night is like finding a hen's hiney.
Examples
-
Winning the lottery is like finding a hen's hiney these days.
-
Getting a response from him is like finding a hen's hiney!
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Getting everyone to agree on the proposal was like finding a hen's hiney.
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It's like finding a hen's hiney!
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Finding a good restaurant in this area is like finding a hen's hiney.
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Getting a hold of a rare book in this library is like finding a hen's hiney.
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Contacting my friend during the holidays is like finding a hen's hiney.
Synonyms
122
4.6
Not often found or seen and so rare
1
7.1
Very hard to find
1
7.7
Very rare and hard to get
Very hard to find or get
Antonyms
How Rare
Surface Forms
Morphology
like + find + a + hen's + hiney
The literal parts ('find' + 'hen's hiney' = finding a chicken's backside) give a rough metaphorical clue that something is hard to spot, but the specific cultural image (that a hen's hiney is small/hidden) is idiomatic and dialectal. A B1 learner who knows the words might guess it means something rare or hard to find, but the mapping is not fully predictable without exposure, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Like finding a hen's hiney comes from the picture of trying to spot a hen's tiny rear hidden under its feathers. That's why people use it to mean 'very difficult or rare to find'.