<P> The phrase `` parson 's nose '' comes from the notion that an English parson may ' have his nose up in the air ' , upturned like the chicken 's rear end . The term must have been known as early as around 1400 AD , when a carpenter had been contracted to provide new choir stalls for St Mary 's Church , Nantwich . The vicar was either slow to pay the artisan , or did not pay at all . In retaliation , on the last misericord in the stalls , the carpenter carved a bird with an image of that Vicar 's face with protuberant nose as rump . The carving is still visible today . </P>
where does the term parsons nose come from
from the notion that an English parson may ' have his nose up in the air ' , upturned like the chicken 's rear end