For most of our compatriots, forced proximity with cockroaches lasts for many decades. In the kitchens of communal apartments, they were permanent residents, no one could get rid of. Yes, and on the territory of its own, separate housing, it is quite difficult to completely get rid of small illegal tenants. Such close relationships led to the fact that small brown insects "settled" in a number of common common expressions. The most ridiculous and expressive of them: "cockroaches in the head."
What does this mean?
This phraseological unit is so often used that far from everyone can fully characterize it. Everyone perfectly understands the meaning, they use it almost every day and simply do not know other words to express its meaning.
Still try to figure it out. "Cockroaches in the head" - this is primarily a characteristic of the original personality, with extraordinary behavior. This is what they say about an eccentric man, with his tricks, very strange from the point of view of a simple layman. The phrase itself is very ironic and allows you to note someone else’s unusual behavior without offending him, since later on you can always turn a conversation into a joke.
Why do they say that?
There are three main assumptions that explain the origin of the phrase "cockroaches in the head."
According to the first version, the phrase gave rise to observations of the behavior of a person in whose ear a cockroach (or other insect) was stuck. As a rule, in such a situation, people behave very funny and, frankly, non-standard: twist a finger in the auricle, shake their heads, drown and bounce. At the same time, a stuck cockroach completely absorbs all their attention.
The second assumption is based on the ability of cockroaches to disable any, even the most reliable, device in a matter of hours. Everyone knows that only these little crooks should settle inside the housing of household appliances, it will be almost impossible to repair it.
And the legend at number three gave rise to memories of a case in the life of the great Russian poet A.S. Pushkin. They say that once they told him a funny story: supposedly cockroaches are able to get into a person’s head during his sleep, settle there and start eating brain. To which Alexander Sergeyevich said: "How interesting, now I’ll talk about fools that they are offended by cockroaches."
Foreign cockroaches
Phraseologisms about oddities, unique and unusual behavior of people are present in many languages. All of them are rightfully considered analogues of our expression “cockroaches in the head,” although the insects themselves are not mentioned there.
Of course, listing all the world analogues is quite difficult. We will address only the most common European languages:
Spaniards say cada loco con su su tema, which literally means "everyone has their own theme";
German people will say einen Vogel im Kopf haben, which means "to have a bird in my head";
the British have the expression a bee in one's bonnet (a bee in a hat), perhaps this phrase is closest to our “cockroaches in my head”.
Learning similar expressions in different languages is very useful and interesting. With their help, you can learn more about the mentality of the nation, and using it in a conversation with a native speaker will show a high level of erudition.
Humor and insects
It is difficult to argue that the phrase about cockroaches is capacious, interesting and very funny. And the irony has always been inherent in our compatriots. Therefore, Russian folk art could not limit itself to just one sentence "cockroaches in the head." Statuses on social networks are full of various phrases about insects. Sometimes they slightly distort or expand the original meaning of the expression. But that makes it even funnier.
Here are just a few of them:
there are solutions from which the cockroaches in my head applaud while standing;
it’s bad when cockroaches settled in the head, but worse if they are stupid;
I’ll argue for myself, it’s strange how my cockroaches still haven’t chewed each other;
cockroaches in my head, butterflies in my stomach - I’m just some kind of terrarium;
there are no cockroaches in my head; they were eaten by larger and more dangerous creatures;
it’s good when you and your loved one have cockroaches in your head of the same kind.
And finally, the shortest and funniest joke about cockroaches in my head.
X: It seems to me that there is a mysterious spark in her eyes!
XX: No, it’s more like cockroaches are celebrating a holiday in her head, but you see fireworks ...