chicken of the sea (English)

Where does "chicken of the sea" come from?

The term 'chicken of the sea' originated in the mid-20th century as a clever marketing jingle for StarKist canned tuna, designed to make the fish sound as mild and versatile as poultry. Over time, the phrase transcended its role as a specific brand slogan to become a common colloquialism for tuna in general.

Full etymology tree

• chicken of the sea (English), 'Tuna.'
  • compound chicken (English), 'A domesticated subspecies of red junglefowl (Gallus gallus domesticus).'
  • compound of (English), 'Forming the "objective genitive".'
  • compound the (English), 'Used before a noun phrase, including a simple noun'
  • compound sea (English), 'A large body of salt water.'

Updated July 2026

Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris