Idiom
chopped liver
Meaning
A person or object not worthy of being noticed; someone or something insignificant.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“I am standing right here, so do not treat me like chopped liver.”
“I spent all day helping you with this project, but you act like I am chopped liver.”
“Despite his significant contributions to the research, he felt like chopped liver when the board ignored his suggestions during the final meeting.”
Examples
simple
“I am standing right here, so do not treat me like chopped liver.”
contextual
“I spent all day helping you with this project, but you act like I am chopped liver.”
complex
“Despite his significant contributions to the research, he felt like chopped liver when the board ignored his suggestions during the final meeting.”
Origin
The term enters English as a calque of the Yiddish *געהאַקטע לעבער* (*gehakte leber*), formed from *געהאַקטע* (*gehakte*, “chopped”) and *לעבער* (*leber*, “liver”). The Yiddish root *האַקן* (*hakn*, “to chop”) provides the verbal foundation for the dish, which consists of poultry livers minced with onions and fat.
The metaphorical use of the phrase to denote an overlooked individual is thought to be a late twentieth-century development. The Hungarian-American lexicographer and linguist Sol Steinmetz (1930–2010) proposed that the usage likely stems from the culinary status of the dish. Within the context of a traditional meal, chopped liver functions strictly as an appetiser or a side dish; it is never the main course. To be the chopped liver is to be the preliminary matter, present on the table but secondary to the primary interest.
Key words
Related idioms
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