# שכל בקודקוד



## dukaine

מלבד יכולות צבאיות יוצאות דופן לילד יש ראש. זה לא שאני מפקפק בחיילי...  אבל *שכל בקודקוד* הוא דבר מאוד לא נפוץ אצלהם 

I'm not quite sure how to translate this. The speaker is referencing a young soldier that he really likes because he is both smart and possesses great military skill. I know it must have something to do with how smart he is, but I can't tell if it's referencing his mind in general or if it's referencing a military mind specifically, because I believe קודקוד can also translate as "commander", if I'm not mistaken.

Thanks!


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## slus

קודקוד is simply "head"
It is used in military slang for "commander" but in this case it's a very straightforward expression. Something like "he has brains in his head".


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## JoMe

קודקוד is not exactly head, at least where I grew up. It's the point behind the top of the skull where if one touches it feels like the skull bones meet together (although in practice they don't meet there I think), where the crown of the head is and its hair whorl. As a very young child I had a friend called Shlomo who was known for having שני קודקודים "double crown", that's how his hair was naturally arranged.

Figuratively it can mean "head" sometimes, including in the discussed idiom.


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## dukaine

slus said:


> Something like "he has brains in his head".



So in English, it might read "the brains in his head are a very uncommon thing among them"?


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## dukaine

JoMe said:


> קודקוד is not exactly head, at least where I grew up. It's the point behind the top of the skull where if one touches it feels like the skull bones meet together (although in practice they don't meet there I think), where the crown of the head is and its hair whorl.



I did see it translated often as "vertex". I think that's part of why I was confused. I saw other meanings like "talk sense", just a bunch of things that were awkward in English. Thanks for the help!


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## shalom00

"vertex" is the translation where קודקוד is used in a mathematical context.


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## shalom00

dukaine said:


> So in English, it might read "the brains in his head are a very uncommon thing among them"?


"Having brains is ..."


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## dukaine

shalom00 said:


> "vertex" is the translation where קודקוד is used in a mathematical context.


I see, thanks.


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## dukaine

shalom00 said:


> "Having brains is ..."


Oh, gotcha. Thanks!


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