Tο ψάρι, το κοτόπουλο και η γυναίκα θέλουν χέρι

Is there a saying like this used by Greeks. I found it in a book in English and translated it as above. If there is, what contexts would it be used in?

To begin with, it's not κοτόπουλες but κοτόπουλο.
The expression I know is τα παϊδάκια/ το κρέας (οποιοδήποτε άλλο ψητό) και η γυναίκα θέλουν χέρι.

The saying goes «το ψάρι, το κοτόπουλο και η γυναίκα θέλουν χέρι», i.e. "you should use your hand for fish, chicken and women". It is usually used as a joke, in a familiar environment, in order to urge someone, usually a man, who is reluctant to use their hands to eat fish or chicken, and stick to using their knife and fork, because they are embarrassed to eat with their hands.

An attempt at a definition: "you can't eat fish and chicken unless you grab them with your hand, and you should also use your hands on (your) woman". It is a play with the phrase "βάζω χέρι", which means to grope, to feel up. Not very politically correct, I know :)

@SBE: Τα παϊδάκια, όχι τα παιδάκια! :twit:

Edit: Theseus, what kind of book did you find it in?

Το διόρθωσα.
Αλλά και τα παιδάκια, νοστιμότατα είναι άμα ξέρεις να τα μαγειρέψεις.
:inno::twit:

In a book given me to read 'It's All Greek to Me' by a certain John Mole, a kind of Bill Bryson writing about the Greeks, the author on page 146 describes a woman cooking fish: 'she sprinkled coarse salt on the top of the iron stove and laid the gopes down for a couple of minutes each side. As the Greek saying goes, 'Fish, chickens and women with the hands.'

I don't think he really understood the meaning of the saying, as it seems to be used out of context. Mind you, it's not something one would say when eating with someone they are not close with, as some people might find it vulgar.

Apart from that, the author is falling in the usual trap of authors describing the languages of exotic places translating word for word, and the translation makes no sense. I think this is their intention. If you are trying to improve your Greek, avoid such books.

Well, this is actually a nice story (of course I've found the book):

Walking past Kyria Sofia's taverna, I saw her through the glass doors and went to wish her good day. Her two children had just come back on the bus from school. The three of them were sitting draped in blankets in the middle of the room around a pot-bellied stove that barely took the chill off the air. She waved me over to sit down with them. On her lap was a loaf of bread, on one side of her a plastic flagon of wine and on the other a basket with gopes, the cheapest and least prized of all the white fish. It was all that her husband had come home with that morning. There were just enough to make a decent meal for them, but there was no question of not sharing. She sprinkled coarse salt on the top of the iron stove and laid the fish down for a couple of minutes each side. As the Greek saying goes, 'Fish, chicken and women with the hands'. We picked the meat off with our fingers and threw the bones into the stove. I can still taste them as I write this twenty-five years later. Hunger is a good sauce and so is hospitality.

Thanks, Sherlock! Ok, so it is not used out of context, then :)

SBE said:

The expression I know is τα παϊδάκια/ το κρέας (οποιοδήποτε άλλο ψητό) και η γυναίκα θέλουν χέρι.

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SBE said:

Το διόρθωσα. Αλλά και τα παιδάκια, νοστιμότατα είναι άμα ξέρεις να τα μαγειρέψεις. :inno::twit:

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Καταλαβαίνεις, ωστόσο, ότι η έκφραση «τα παιδάκια θέλουν χέρι» μπορεί να επισύρει μέχρι και ποινική δίωξη, ε; :twit:

Α, ναι. Φαντάζομαι ότι η ελλειπτική πρόταση χρειάζεται ένα κόμμα, για να μη διαβαστεί εντελώς λάθος: Fish, chicken and women, with the hands.

We could also play (for a definitely politically incorrect translation) with "pick up". Something like "Fish, chicken, women. You need to pick all of them up". Just a suggestion from a still under-caffeinated brain.