# A hen-pecked husband



## ThomasK

I did not know that expression, but it is quite funny,as an expression at least, somewhat tragic for the victim: he is ruled/ dominated by his wife. 

I just discovered that in Japanese he seems to be a *shiri ni shikareru*, a cushion, for his wife. (He is a real softie, literally)

In Dutch and German he is _*a pantoffelheld/ Pantoffelheld*_, a slipper hero. In the same vein: in Flemish he lies under the slipper (_ligt onder de sloef,_ which is a 'very Flemish' variant of a _pantoffel_) , in German he stands (_steht_) under, or he gets (_kommt, gerät_). 

So please tell me more ! (Thanks in advance !)


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## sakvaka

We use the same expression (_tohvelisankari_) in *Finnish.* But usually we say _hän on tossun alla_ (he's under the slipper).


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## Maroseika

Russian - подкаблучник, lit. 'the one who is under the heel [of his wife's show]'. 
Looks like a developed from the foreign calque (slipper > heel).


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## XiaoRoel

En español, en España, *calzonazos*, de _calzón_.


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## Dr. Quizá

As XiaoRoel said, in Spain at least such a man is a "*calzonazos*", which means "very big undepants". I've just realized that simply means he has not enough to fill his underwear...


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## cyberpedant

My friends in México use the word, "mandilón," which translates roughly to "he who wears the apron" (mandil).


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## ThomasK

Well, at least  Spanish seems to offer more originality here... Thanks for the contributions !


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## enoo

I'm curious to know if there's such an saying in French. 
All I know is a saying about the wife in that kind of couple. "_Elle porte la culotte_" (She's wearing the "trousers". Nowadays culotte means panties/woman underwear, but one of the original meaning was trousers.)


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## ThomasK

The metaphor seems common to Romanic languages. Thanks. 

In the meantime I came across the Caribbean Spanish word _*baulero*_, which is supposed to refer to this kind of husband, who is not even allowed to go out alone. Can anyone confirm that ?


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## szivike

In Hungarian we use "Papucsférj"  or "papucs alatt tartva" (the husband who is under the slipper, the man who is kept under the slipper). I've heard variations of it, such as "Papucskormány van náluk" lit. meaning  "government of the slipper at their place".

We also use the "A feleség hordja a nadrágot" expression meaning the same as in French. She [the wife] is wearing the trousers.


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## Equinozio

In Tagalog, we say "under da saya" (under the skirt).


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## ThomasK

_Skirts, trousers, shoes, pantoffels_: life's intimacy exposed ?


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## Ghabi

Although I always believe that, in ping-pong as in the noble art of hen-peckedness, the Chinese are the world champions, there're no - could you believe that!? - special terms for that in Chinese. We just say 懼內 _jùnèi_ "fearing one's wife". There's also the more learned term 季常之癖 _jìcháng zhī pì_ "Jichang's complex" (Chen Jichang being a historical figure chiefly remembered today for the unusual and praiseworthy respect he showed to his better half).


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## bibax

Czech:

podpantofelník, muž pod pantoflem = a man under the pantoffel


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## The Machine of Zhu

ThomasK said:


> In Dutch and German he is _*a pantoffelheld/ Pantoffelheld*_, a slipper hero. In the same vein: in Flemish he lies under the slipper (_ligt onder de sloef,_ which is a 'very Flemish' variant of a _pantoffel_) , in German he stands (_steht_) under, or he gets (_kommt, gerät_).
> 
> So please tell me more ! (Thanks in advance !)



In Dutch we also have "onder de pantoffel/plak zitten." But to be honest, I've never heard either of these being used.


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## apmoy70

In Greek we don't use a single word to describe the _victim_ ruled/dominated by his wife; we use rather the set phrase:
Του έχει βάλει τα δύο πόδια σ'ένα παπούτσι
Tu 'exi 'vali ta 'ðio 'poðʝa 'sena pa'putsi
_[loose translation]:_ "she's made his two feet to fit in one shoe"
Παπούτσι (pa'putsi, _n._) is colloquially the name for the shoe (from the Turkish _papuç, pabuç_). Its formal name is υπόδημα (i'poðima) _neuter singular_/υποδήματα (ipo'ðimata) _neuter plural_, from the ancient «ὑπόδημα» (hū'pŏðēmă, _n._)-->that which is bound under the foot [with straps] (verb _ὑποδέω-hūpŏ'ðĕō_-->to bind, fasten under).

The above phrase has become a concrete saying, popularly known and repeated, since the Byzantine times. It was a deliberate, systematic, cruel and wanton infliction of physical suffering to make forcibly the convict's feet to fit in one of his/her shoe. He/she had to walk this way (or rather "hop") for months (from 4-6 months).


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## swift

enoo said:


> All I know is a saying about the wife in that kind of couple. "_Elle porte la culotte_".


 
Ne pourrait-on pas parler aussi de _jean-foutre _?

En castellano, en Costa Rica: le canta la gallina.


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## enoo

swift said:


> Ne pourrait-on pas parler aussi de _jean-foutre _?



Well, Jean-foutre is more the name (insult) given to a man that does nothing, is lazy - but I think that not all hen-pecked husbands are Jean-foutres, and some Jean-foutres are not married.

On the other hand, when I read this word, I can't help but picture a housewife (the virago kind) with a rolling-pin in one hand, shooting at her husband and calling him that name, so I guess it's somewhat associated to a hen-pecked husband, but the kind that has a really angry wife.


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## ThomasK

Can anyone translate 'le canta la gallina' ? The singing chicken ? 

_(I just found in Italian: __La gallina che canta ha fatto l'uovo__/ __The guilty dog barks the loudest__...)_


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## swift

ThomasK said:


> Can anyone translate 'le canta la gallina' ? The singing chicken ?



Hello Thomas,

Sorry, I forgot to translate that idiom. It means "The hen crows". In other words, it's not the cock the one who crows in the poultry.

Regards,


swift


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## ThomasK

Haha, great !


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## Trauer

In Polish: *Pantofel* or* Pantoflarz*. The first one means _a slipper_ and the second one is a variation of the slipper word having typical ending for names of the people having some sort of profession, e.g. piek*arz *(baker), dek*arz* (roofer) etc.


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## sakvaka

But remember the Finnish saying: _Parempi tossun alla kuin taivasalla._ "Better under the slipper than under the open sky" ;-)


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## ThomasK

The Finnish have a way of looking at the bright side of dark life ! ;-)


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## Hakro

ThomasK said:


> _Skirts, trousers, shoes, pantoffels_: life's intimacy exposed ?


_Apron_ ("mandilón") was already mentioned but I've heard the English phrase "tied to the apron strings".


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## phosphore

Trauer said:


> In Polish: *Pantofel* or* Pantoflarz*. The first one means _a slipper_ and the second one is a variation of the slipper word having typical ending for names of the people having some sort of profession, e.g. piek*arz *(baker), dek*arz* (roofer) etc.


 
In Serbian: papučar, from papuče=slippers, with the agentivity suffix added, as in pek-ar=baker, lek-ar=doctor, zub-ar=dentist, etc.


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## Zsanna

enoo said:


> I'm curious to know if there's such an saying in French. (...)


I don't know whether it could be a good translation (I have certainly never heard it in use) but what about _jocrisse_? (It was a character's name in a play.)



szivike said:


> In Hungarian we use "Papucsférj" or "papucs alatt tartva" (the husband who is under the slipper, the man who is kept under the slipper).


That is strange. For me it indicates rather that the person keeps wearing slippers all the time because he prefers staying always at home (or at least so it seems), in a protected enviroment (maybe as he doesn't dare to put his nose outside and face the world). 
I wonder if it is due to some coincidence with the term "papucshős" (= slipperhero) a person who - the moment he would have to stand up for his opinion (in front of everybody) - withdraws, doesn't dare to air his opinions as "bravely" as he did without (competent) witnesses.



szivike said:


> I've heard variations of it, such as "Papucskormány van náluk" lit. meaning "government of the slipper at their place".


That is really funny!


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