Pollas en vinagre

This expression is straight up hilarious. I wasn't sure what it meant, and my Spanish is rather poor, but via some google-translate fu, I found this (which is edited for brevity):

*Blunt, foul and foul is to answer someone with the expression 'And a dick in vinegar!' when you want to emphasize the disagreement you have about an issue. And just as complicated and entangled is to be able to find the etymological origin of the expression, due to the large amount of 'misinformation' that runs through the network, most of them being simple inventions.

On the one hand we find some sources that point out that 'cocks in vinegar' is the name that is known in the town of Yecla (Murcia) to a plate of 'sardines with chillies'. Without neglecting culinary recipes, there are those who point out that in some places in Castilla (the sources do not specify which of the two Castillas it is), a dish of 'gallin or pickled chicken' is served. The little chicken is a water bird also known by the name of 'water cock', hence, that recipe may possibly be known as 'cock in vinegar' (in my search I have not found reliable links that can prove that it is ).

In a good number of pages an origin appears that dates back to the times of Ancient Rome and that indicates that at that time it was common to preserve certain foods in vinegar , one of these being the 'pullas' and refer to these as green shoots of Vegetables, including asparagus heads. [...] This website housed the personal page of the poet and writer Carlos Rivera and was very famous a few years ago. There he used to publish, among other things, some curiosities and etymologies of famous phrases (specifically that of the cocks in vinegar was approximately 2007), but unfortunately Rivera died in 2014 [...], but the only source of reference it gives is that of a 'Félix Gómez Galán', reader of his blog who had sent him the following explanation:

"In Classical Rome, it was common to pickle fresh shoots of asparagus and other vegetables in vinegar, being considered an exquisite snack. Polla, from the Latin "pullas": it meant, then, green shoots, breeding (hence pimpollo, pear chicken, chick ... etc). The expression 'cocks in vinegar' is thus used as an ironic and doubtful expression."

But these are not the only explanations on the net about the possible origin of 'pickled dicks'. There are those who place it in the low funds of some cities, including the 'Chinatown' of Barcelona , and explains that some time ago, due to an outbreak of infections of venereal diseases (especially fungal infections), many were street prostitutes They carried a bottle of vinegar on top and with it they washed the members (cocks) of their clients before having sex (it is known that apple cider vinegar has been used as a disinfectant for many years and to perform so-called sitz baths).

And finally, I want to do it with what I think is closer to being the right source or at least it is the explanation that I find most accurate. To do this we must recover the term 'pulla' , but not in the sense mentioned above of the green shoots in Classical Rome but in the meaning given by the dictionary of the SAR to the word in Spanish and in which it indicates that it is the said with the one that indirectly humiliates someone. Many are the experts who maintain that, to that phrase or word that is said to hurt someone verbally (pulla, pullita) if vinegar is added (that is, sarcasm or scathing irony) it stings / hurts even more, hence possibly that 'pulla with vinegar' ended up becoming the well-known expression 'cocks in vinegar' that is used to respond discourteously.

Point out that in English there is the term 'pickled dicks' that comes to be translated as 'cocks in vinegar / canned' and most sources indicate that this expression is taken and translated from Spanish. By the way, it should be noted that about a decade ago the artist Miguel Ezpania designed and drew some penises (I think they are made of plaster) and that he painted conveniently in flesh color and they are introduced in some jars of conservation labeled with the name of 'Cocks in vinegar ' and that since then it is sold (among other sites) through its website at the price of 60 euros the jar.* [Translated from this source]

This is crazy, funny and interesting. So thank you.