| 释义 |
▪ I. pig, n.1|pɪg|
Forms: 3–7 pigge, 4–6 pygge, 5 pygg, 5–8 pigg, 6 pyg, (7 bigg), 6– pig.
[Early ME. pigge:—prob. OE. *picga, *pigga. Etymology obscure.
In formation, *picga wk. masc. corresponds to other animal names, docga, ME. dogge dog, frocga, frogga, ME. frogge frog, hogga, ME. hogge hog. The word is perh. found in picbred, ? for *picg-bréad; for the shortening cf. gum-cynn, sunn-béam, etc.; for pic- instead of picg-, cf. bric-bot = brycg-bot (Laws of æthelred, 11th c.), wic-cræft = wicg-cræft, etc. Pigman is cited by Bardsley as a name temp. Richard I, 1189–99. Low G. and early mod.Du. have, in same sense, bigge, Du. big a young pig; MDu. vigghe; but the phonology is difficult: see Franck.]
I.
1. a. The young of swine; ‘a young sow or boar’ (J.).
a1225Ancr. R. 204 Þe Suwe of ȝiuernesse, þet is, Glutunie, haueð pigges þus inemned. Ibid., Þus beoð þeos pigges iueruwed. c1386Chaucer Reeve's T. 358 And in the floor with nose and mouth to-broke They walwe as doon two pigges in a poke. 1387Trevisa Higden (Rolls) I. 237 A white sowe wiþ þritty pigges [triginta porcellis]. c1400Mandeville (1839) vi. 71 The Sarazines bryngen forth no Pigges, nor thei eten no Swynes Flessche. c1440Promp. Parv. 395/2 Pygge, gryce, porcellus. 1523Fitzherb. Husb. §121 And if thy sowe haue moo pygges than thou wilt rere, sel them, or eate them. 1577B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. (1586) 149 Euery Pigge doth know his owne Pappe. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 512 As in English we call a young Swine a Pig. 1688R. Holme Armoury ii. 180/1 In English we call a young Swine a Bigg; a sucking or weaning Bigg. 1719De Foe Crusoe (1840) II. ix. 196 Three sows big with pig. 1828Webster, Pig, the young of swine, male or female. 1869Blackmore Lorna D. xvii, Two farrows of pigs ready for the chapman.
b. Phr. in pig, of a sow: pregnant; also transf. of a girl or woman (slang).
1886J. Long Bk. Pig iv. 59 They [sc. gilts] are less costly than if either tolerably fat or, as it is called, ‘in pig’, or in farrow. 1905J. P. Stilwell in N. & Q. 10th s. IV. 512 About here [in Hants] a pig is a pig from birth till six or eight months old, when it becomes a boar, a hog, or a sow. 1917W. Powell-Owen Pig-Keeping v. 59 Sows that are in-pig do best when given their liberty. 1937H. M. Rikard-Bell Handk. Mod. Pig Farming ii. 33 Watch carefully after three weeks have elapsed for fear that the recurrence of their oestrum periods will prove them [sc. gilts] to be not in-pig. 1945N. Mitford Pursuit of Love x. 83, I am in pig, what d'you think of that? 1950, etc. [see in-pig a.]. 1976‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Nanny Bird vii. 86 Since when had her mother paid the slightest attention to anything her darling daughter said or did, except to do her level best to keep her from marrying anything less than a duke, until she had to get herself in pig.
†c. Applied to the young of the badger. Obs.
1575Turberv. Venerie 183 There are foxes and theyr cubbes, and badgerdes and theyr Pigges.
2. a. By extension: A swine of any age; a hog.
(Clear examples of this use are rare before the 19th c.)
[1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 158 b, Let vs syng or say our seruice distinctly..not syngynge in y⊇ nose as pygges. 1596Shakes. Merch. V. iv. i. 47 Some men there are loue not a gaping Pigge.] 1663Butler Hud. i. ii. 472 Not onely Horse, but Cows, Nay Pigs, were of the elder house. 1784in Boswell's Johnson (1887) VI. 373, I told him (says Miss Seward)..of a wonderful learned pig. Ibid. 374 ‘Certainly (said the Doctor): but how old is your pig?’ I told him, three years old. 18..Southey Ode to a Pig, And when, at last, the closing hour of life Arrives (for pigs must die as well as men). 1820Shelley Œdip. Tyrann. i. Chorus of Swine 3 Under your mighty ancestors, we pigs Were blessed as nightingales on myrtle sprigs. Ibid., Semichorus iii, Happier swine were they than we, Drowned in the Gadarean sea..Alas! the Pigs are an unhappy nation! 1863Lyell Antiq. Man 23 The domesticated species comprise the dog, horse, ass, pig, goat, sheep, and several bovine races. 1867D. G. Mitchell Rur. Stud. 63 The pig can hardly be regarded as a classic animal.
b. Applied to a wild swine or hog; also used collectively = wild swine in the mass.
1889R. S. S. Baden-Powell Pigsticking 67, I have even seen a pig break its leg in..the act of jumping down a small bank. 1901Munsey's Mag. (U.S.) XXV. 328/2 There is much to be seen—deer in herds, a sounder of pig, perchance, scurrying away.
c. The figure of the animal used as an ornament, etc. Sussex pig, a drinking vessel in the form of a pig.
1884Mag. Art Jan. 102 A popular vessel is the ‘Sussex pig’. When filled, this quaint, uncouth utensil is..set upright on the brute's tail; empty, it stands on all-fours. In Sussex these ‘pigs’ were, and still are, brought into use at weddings.
3. The animal or its flesh as an article of food.
Usually referring to a young or sucking pig; otherwise only humorous, the regular name for the meat being pork, dial. also pig-meat; cf. also bacon, ham, griskin, etc.
c1430Two Cookery-bks. 40 Broche þin Pygge; þen farce hym, & sewe þe hole, & lat hym roste. 1477Norton Ord. Alch. vii. in Ashm. Theat. Chem. Brit. (1652) 103 Heate wherewith Pigg or Goose is Scalded. 1549Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. Tit. 28 They feare to be contaminate yf they eate eyther porke or pigge. 1590Shakes. Com. Err. ii. i. 66 The Pigge quoth I, is burn'd. 1684Bunyan Pilgr. ii. Introd. 161 Some start at Pigg, slight Chicken, love not Fowl. 1822Lamb Elia Ser. i., A Dissertation upon Roast Pig.
4. Applied with distinguishing epithet to various species of the family Suidæ, as bush-pig, wood-pig; also extended to include animals in some way resembling the pig, as sea-pig, (a) the porpoise; (b) the tunny. See also guinea-pig.
1664[see guinea-pig]. 1785G. Forster tr. Sparrman's Voy. Cape G. H. II. 279 We had the good luck to catch a young wood-pig. 1826Miss Mitford Village Ser. ii. (1863) 387 Driving about an unhappy porpoise in a wheel⁓barrow, and showing it at two-pence a head, under the name of a sea pig. 1896Kirby (title) In Haunts of Wild Game,..Reedbuck and Small Game, Bush-pigs, Leopards. 1897M. Kingsley W. Africa 613, I deeply regret not having been able to bring home a Bobia pig... These..are black in colour, as indeed is common in African pigs, two-thirds head, and after a very small and very flat bit of body, end in an inordinately long tail.
5. a. Applied, usually contemptuously or opprobriously, to a person, or to another animal. (Cf. F. cochon.)
1546J. Heywood Prov. (1867) 65 What, byd me welcome pyg. a1586Sidney Arcadia iii. (1629) 360 The pretie pigge, laying her sweet burden about his necke. 1885G. Allen Babylon xv, Knew him well, the selfish old pig. 1891H. S. Constable Horses, Sport & War 46 He is usually called a sulky pig of a horse. 1927Dialect Notes V. 458 Pig, a woman—sottish, surly, disgruntled, stinking—who has sunk to the lowest level of prostitution. The bum who keeps a pig rents her out to others. 1931E. O'Neill The Hunted iv, in Mourning becomes Electra 155 That yaller-haired pig with the pink dress on! 1932J. T. Farrell in Story Mar.–Apr. 47 Jack told of an anecdote about a pig he had picked up once. She was too lousy and scummy to take a chance on. 1960I. Jefferies Dignity & Purity v. 83 I'm having a golf lesson from the Advertising pig tomorrow. 1966Sunday Times (Colour Suppl.) 13 Feb. 35/4 Pig, an unattractive girl. 1968–70Current Slang (Univ. S. Dakota) III-IV. 91 Pig, a girl who is both promiscuous and drunken. 1973Daily Californian 1 Feb. 1/4 The Pentagon Papers..‘provide evidence of pig foreign policy. A pig is someone who attacks you and at the same time claims he is the victim’, he said. 1976National Observer (U.S.) 21 Feb. 14/6 The quick resort to the phrase ‘pig’ for the blue-collar, lower-class people who were doing the job they thought they were supposed to do. 1977P. G. Winslow Witch Hill Murder ii. 227, I had some beautiful birds in London, but I had to stay on the good side of that pig, or she might have noticed more than was good for her. 1979R. Rendell Make Death love Me i. 16 I'm not demeaning myself to reply to you, pig.
b. Colloq. phr. to make a pig of oneself, to gluttonize.
1942Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §272/3 Be greedy or selfish,..make a pig..of oneself. 1961F. S. Anthony in Webster s.v., Not make such a gorging pig of himself. 1979Guardian 22 June 9/5 We had made pigs of ourselves on the bread.
c. Applied contemptuously or opprobriously to a thing.
1975‘W. Haggard’ Scorpion's Tail i. 2 What a summer, he thought—what a perfect pig. The rain and the cold. 1978Times 15 Feb. 8/1 Miller was out in Collinge's second over to a pig of a ball. 1978F. Mullally Deadly Payoff xi. 154 Watch for the potholes. It's a pig of a road. 1978Hot Car June 93/4 The car became a pig to start.
6. slang.
†a. A sixpence (obs.).
b. A police officer. Now usu. disparaging.
c. A pressman in a printing-office.
1622Fletcher Beggars Bush iii. i, Fill till't be sixpence, And there's my pig. a1700B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Pig, Sixpence. 1811Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. Pig, a China street pig; a Bow-street officer. 1812J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., Pigs or Grunters, police runners. 1821Egan Life in London I. i. (Farmer), Do not frown upon me,..thou bashaw of the pigs, and all but beak! 1841Savage Art Printing s.v., Pressmen are called pigs by compositors, sometimes by way of sport, and sometimes of irritation. 1857N. & Q. 2nd Ser. IV. 192/1 Compositors are jocosely called mokes or donkeys, and pressmen pigs. These nicknames..were well understood in the early part of the last century. 1874Hotten Slang Dict. 253 Pig, a policeman; an informer. The word is now almost exclusively applied by London thieves to a plain-clothes man, or a ‘nose’. 1967C. Drummond Death at Furlong Post v. 63, I had to give the local P.C. a lift. I dropped the pig at Packenham. 1970Times 7 Aug. 4/7 ‘Pig’ is slang for a policeman—and the defence says that the word ‘pig’ was scrawled over the doors of the house after the killings. 1973Black World July 56/1 The pigs swooped by, going west, the emergency light blinking green. 1975D. Lodge Changing Places v. 170 Any pig roughs you up, make sure you get his number. 1975N. Luard Travelling Horseman vi. 146 The police Rover and some motorcycle pigs providing escort. 1977‘E. Crispin’ Glimpses of Moon xi. 217 ‘My God, it's the pigs,’ said the hunt saboteuse disgustedly.
d. An informer. ? Obs.
1874[see 6 b above]. 1904‘No. 1500’ Life in Sing Sing 251/1 Pig, prisoner who reports another; stool-pigeon. 1918Amer. Law Rev. LII. 891 A ‘prison stool pigeon’ is a ‘trusty’, ‘psalm singer’ or ‘pig’.
e. Any of various forms of transport (see quots.).
1898North Amer. Rev. June 723 Whalebacks, or ‘pigs’, as the lake sailors call them. 1938L. Beebe High Iron 223/2 (Gloss.), Pig, locomotive. 1946Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. L. 85 He had made no great contribution publicly to aeronautical science, but the fact that he had taken the first ‘pig’ (the name sometimes applied to early biplanes—Ed.) into the air. 1961Amer. Speech XXXVI. 273 Pig, n., an old truck. 1967Evening Standard 26 July 13/3 ‘We'll hop in my pig, catch the rays and have a boss time.’.. The latest in American teenage talk... ‘The pig’ is a car which looks powerful but has a small engine; ‘catching the rays’ is getting a sun tan; and ‘boss’ is the same as great. 1971Guardian 27 Aug. 11/7 He did indeed ride with Melbourne's Hell's Angels..garaging his extremely powerful pig (bike) beside his Porsche. Ibid., 22 Nov. 6/1 The soldiers were in a convoy of ‘pigs’—armoured personnel carriers, trucks, and Land-Rovers. 1972Times 8 June 16/2 It was only a patrol of one armoured personnel carrier, a great heavy green vehicle, which everyone calls a ‘pig’ because of its snout shaped bonnet. 1973Amer. Speech 1969 XLIV. 207 Pig, 1. Trailer transported on a flat car. 2. Tractor with little power. 1978Times 19 Jan. 29/3 The Pig, the armoured vehicle most used in Belfast.
f. pl. Used as a derisive retort. Also const. to. Austral. slang.
1906E. Dyson Fact'ry 'Ands i. 5 ‘Pigs to you!’ said Benno, with incredible scorn. 1933N. Lindsay Saturdee ix. 165 Peter had to cover his confusion by saying ‘Pigs to you’ as he went out kicking the door. 1957‘N. Culotta’ They're a Weird Mob (1958) iv. 47 ‘She's worn out.’ ‘Pigs she is. There's a lot of life in 'er yet.’ 1975L. Ryan Shearers 119 ‘Ar, pigs to you!’ ‘In your dinger, too!’
g. blind pig: see blind a. (and adv.) 16.
II. Technical uses.
7. An oblong mass of metal, as obtained from the smelting-furnace; an ingot.
In this connexion sow is found earlier: viz. of lead 1481, of silver 1590, of iron 1612; sow-iron 1608, sow-metal 1674. The original differentiation of sow and pig (if there was any) was prob. in the size, the smaller masses being called pigs. The modern explanation, i.e. that the sow comes from the main channel, and the pigs from derivative channels into which the liquid metal is run from the furnace (applicable only to iron) is a later adaptation of the terms to the development of the iron-industry, of which the earliest indication is in quot. 1686 in d, where however ‘sow’ and ‘piggs’ may in themselves refer merely to size.
a. Generally. (Not now of gold or silver.)
1630J. Taylor (Water P.) Praise of Hempseed Wks. iii. 65/1 Ships..That bring gold, siluer, many a Sow and Pig. 1683Lond. Gaz. No. 1873/3, 150 Piggs of Silver. 1726G. Shelvocke Voy. round World 312 We return'd for what we had of him some bales of coarse broad cloth,..some piggs of copper. 1836–41Brande Chem. (ed. 5) 820 Cast into oblong pieces called pigs, which are broken up, roasted, and melted with a portion of charcoal... Malleability is here conferred upon the copper..by stirring [etc.]. 1868G. Stephens Runic Mon. I. 372 This Pig of Tin is well known and has often been engraved. 1894Times 16 Aug. 6/4 Zinc in blocks or pigs, one cent per pound.
b. Of lead (the earliest use): now usually of a definite weight; see quot. 1823.
1589J. White in Capt. Smith Virginia (1624) 15 We found..many barres of Iron, two pigs of Lead,..and such like heauie things throwne here and there. a1616Beaum. & Fl. Scornful Lady v. ii, Lusty Boys to throw the Sledge, and lift at Pigs of Lead. 1688R. Holme Armoury iii. 260/2 A Pig or Sow of Lead, is generally about three hundred Pounds apiece. 1747Hooson Miner's Dict. I iv, Amongst Lead Merchants it [a Fodder] is nine Pieces or Piggs of Lead. 1823P. Nicholson Pract. Build 405 The moulds..take a charge of metal equal to one hundred and fifty-four pounds; these are called in commerce, pigs, or pigs of lead. 1865Merivale Rom. Emp. VIII. lxvi. 206 Inscriptions on pigs of lead, &c. refer to the reigns of Claudius.
c. Of iron (now the chief use): see quots. Also, in mod. use (without a or plural), short for pig-iron. pig of ballast, a pig of iron (rarely of lead) used as ballast.
1674Ray Words, Iron Work 126 The lesser pieces of 1000 pound or under they call Pigs. 1678Phil. Trans. XII. 934 From these Furnaces, they bring their Sows and Pigs of Iron (as they call them) to their Forges. 1769Gray Let. to Nicholls 24 June, The iron is brought in pigs to Milthrop by sea from Scotland, &c. 1789Trans. Soc. Arts VII. 218 Pigs of ballast, to sink the lower part. 1829Glover's Hist. Derby i. 82 A pig of iron is three feet and a half in length, and of one hundred pounds weight. 1837Marryat Dog-fiend liv, Get up a pig of ballast. 1866Reader 8 Sept. 778 The changes which have to be effected in the crude cast-iron, called pig, in order to convert it into malleable or bar-iron. 1871Trans. Amer. Inst. Mining Eng. I. 149 White pig is made with a slag ranging from 40 to 48 per cent. 1883Daily News 1 Sept. 2/6 Metals... Scotch pigs quiet, closing at 47s. for m.n. warrants.
d. Applied to the moulds or channels in the pig-bed.
[1686Plot Staffordsh. 162 They make one larger furrow than the rest,..which is for the Sow, from whence they draw two or three and twenty others (like the labells of a file in Heraldry) for the piggs.] 1805[see pig-iron 1]. 1856Richardson Suppl. s.v., When the lead is tapped from the smelting furnace, it runs down a straight channel, technically called the sow, from which branch off on each side some smaller channels, called pigs. 1868Joynson Metals 23 The iron..is..run into rough moulds or channels made in sand, and to which the name of ‘pig’ is given.
8. In various technical and local uses:
a. A bundle of hemp-fibre of about 2½ lb. weight.
b. A block or cube of salt.
c. A segment of an orange or apple.
d. See quots. a 1843, 1902, 1926, 1941.
c1825J. Choyce Log Jack Tar (1891) 33 This [rock salt] they cut out into square pigs weighing about sixty pounds which they send to Guacho on mules. a1843in Southey Comm.-pl. Bk. (1851) IV. 417 Your man beat his antagonist by a pig and an apple-pie. Note. A pig is still a provincial term for an apple puff. c1860H. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 57 It [hemp] is then weighed into small parcels called ‘pigs’, weighing about 2½ lbs. each. 1870Verney Lettice Lisle vi. 75 ‘What beautiful fruit’, said he, beginning to eat the ‘pigs’ into which she was cutting it [an apple]. 1877N. & Q. 5th Ser. VII. 134/1. 1902 Daily Chron. 11 Oct. 8/4 ‘Pigs in Blankets’ the Americans call oysters wrapped in bacon. We.. term them ‘Angels on Horseback’. 1926Maines & Grant Wise-Crack Dict. 12/2 Pig in a blanket, sausage in a roll. 1941J. Smiley Hash House Lingo 43 Pig in a blanket, frankfurter sandwich. 1943E. M. Almedingen Frossia vi. 240 Some people are like oranges..all divided into neatly separated pigs. 1961I. Fleming Thunderball iv. 38 The orange, carefully sliced into symmetrical pigs. 1973Observer (Colour Suppl.) 16 Sept. 83/2 The famous savoury angels on horseback. (The Americans call it pigs in blankets.) 1974P. Dickinson Poison Oracle v. 133 They were sharing a second orange, putting it pig by pig into each other's mouths.
9. A device that fits snugly inside an oil or gas pipeline and can be sent through it, e.g. to clean the inside or to act as a barrier between fluids either side of it.
1949Amer. Speech XXIV. 33 A few field workers apply the term [sc. ‘rabbit’] to scrapers used in pipelines to remove paraffin, but the most common name for this device is pig, because of the grunting noise it makes as it is forced through the line. 1949Sun (Baltimore) 30 Nov. 13/1 In order to make sure that the pipe had no leaks and was free of all foreign matter, a ‘pig’—a rubber object headed by a washer the same diameter as the pipe—was sent through by air pressure. 1956Ibid. (B ed.) 27 Oct. 11/6 A ‘pig’ is a contraption consisting of blades, wheels, and brushes that runs through a pipeline to clean it. 1970W. G. Roberts Quest for Oil xii. 126 (caption) Plastic pig used to clean a 30-inch diameter pipeline in Libya. Ibid., A third way of checking what is going on in a pipeline is to insert some solid separator at the interface [between different products], fitting closely enough in the pipe to make sure that it will be pushed along at the same rate as the oil. Such devices are known as ‘batching pigs’. 1977Time 27 June 37/1 The moving oil will push the pig through the 48-in.-diameter steel pipe at 1 m.p.h. As it goes, the cylinder will shove out of the pipe any refuse that may be contained (for example, tools left behind by forgetful workmen) and emit beeps indicating its location.
10. In the names of various games.
pigs in clover, a game which consists in rolling a number of marbles into a recess or pocket in a board by tilting the board itself. pig (also piggy) in the middle, (a) a game in which one child is encircled by others and must escape by any of a number of (usu. vigorous) means; (b) a chasing game in which players must cross from one side of an open space to the other without being stopped by a child (or children) in the middle; (c) a ball game, usu. for three, in which the middle child tries to intercept the ball as it passes between the other two; also, the player in the middle in any of these games; also transf. and fig. placing (or chalking) the pig's eye, putting on the pig's tail: see quot. 1903.
1887Folk-Lore Jrnl. V. 50 Some of the games were much rougher such as ‘Pig in the middle and can't get out’. 1889Amer. Stationer 14 Feb. 355/3 ‘Pigs in Clover’ is the taking name of a new game which has just been placed upon the market by the toy house of Selchow & Righter. 1892‘Mark Twain’ Amer. Claimant xxiv. 250 A toy puzzle called Pigs in Clover, had come into sudden favor. 1898Daily News 3 May 6/2 Those games and pastimes by which the patrons of the Peninsular and Oriental Company are wont to beguile time. Of such are the ‘Game of Buckets’, ‘Playing Bull’, ‘Placing the Pig's Eye’, and the ‘Cigarette Race’. 1900Westm. Gaz. 6 June 2/2 All those who have played ‘Pigs in Clover’ will know the exasperating way in which, when you have safely wriggled one pig into position another immediately wriggles itself out. 1903Daily Chron. 4 Feb. 5/1 ‘Putting on the pig's tail’ is a familiar game on board ship. A tailless pig is drawn in chalk upon the deck. Each passenger is blindfolded, turned round three times, and then proceeds to put the tail on the pig—usually yards away from the animal. 1915W. S. Maugham Of Human Bondage xi. 39 The new boys were told to go into the middle, while the others stationed themselves along opposite walls. They began to play Pig in the Middle. The old boys ran from wall to wall while the new boys tried to catch them: when one was seized and the mystic words said—one, two, three, and a pig for me—he became a prisoner and, turning sides, helped to catch those who were still free. 1962Guardian 3 Aug. 4/5 He was..pig-in-the-middle between his sweet, faint, pietistic mother and his impossibly stiff-necked father. 1962C. Storr Robin viii. 37 You're blue with cold... You will have to play pig-in-the-middle. 1969I. & P. Opie Children's Games viii. 238 This game (Bull in the ring) seems to be less played today than in the nineteenth century, when it was frequently recorded... ‘Pig in the Middle and Can't Get Out’. 1970Times (Saturday Rev.) 28 Feb. p. i/6 Dr. Robinson has thus been rudely abused from all sides of the shrinking Kingdom, piggy-in-the-middle of a debate which..is..fought with..bitterness. 1970N. Fisher Walk at Steady Pace iv. 231 They all knew more..than I did. All three were able to use me as pig in the middle. 1973M. Amis Rachel Papers 125 Four boys..stood in a semicircle round a fifth... Having looked round for encouragement or approval, one of the boys leaned over and slapped the piggy in the middle quite hard on the face. 1977W. McIlvanney Laidlaw xii. 51 He's not a good polis-man... He doesn't know which side he's on. He's pig in the middle. 1977Times 1 Sept. 5/2 You have to take the decisions, and often you are the piggy in the middle; in our case, for example, between pilots and shipowners.
III. Proverbial phrases.
11.
†a. when the pig is offered, to hold open the poke: to seize upon one's opportunities. (And variants of this.)
b. to buy (or sell) a pig in a poke (or bag): to buy anything without seeing it or knowing its value.
†c. to give any one a pig of his own (or another's) sow: (a) to give any one a part of his own (or another's) property; (b) to pay any one back in his own coin, treat him as he has treated others.
d. please the pigs: please the fates; if circumstances permit; if all's well. [Here some have suggested a corruption of pyx or of pixies, but without any historical evidence.]
e. to carry pigs to market: to try to do business or attain to results. to drive (or bring) one's pigs to a fine, pretty, etc. market: (usually ironical) to be disappointed or unsuccessful in a venture.
f. to draw pig on (or upon) pork (or bacon) (Commercial slang): (see quots.); hence pig-on-bacon, a bill drawn in this way.
g. in a pig's eye, ear, arse: used as a derisive retort; freq. as a strong negative or an emphatic. (Most of the examples are U.S. or Austral.) h. on the pig's back (occas. the pig's ear): in a fortunate position; on top of the world; riding high. i. to make a pig's ear (out) of: to make a mess of; to bungle.
a.c1530R. Hilles Common-pl. Bk. (1858) 140 When ye proffer the pigge open the poke. 1616Withals' Dict. 579 Quod datur accipe, when the pig is offered, hold ope the poake. a1620Sir T. Throckmorton Life & Death Sir N. Throckmorton xci, To profferd Pig each man doth ope his Poke.
b.1562J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 139, I will neuer bye the pyg in the poke. 1679G. R. tr. Boaystuau's Theat. World 201 Buying, as they say, a Pig in a Bag. 1785Rolliad 74 Except, indeed, when he essays to joke; And then his wit is truly pig-in-poke. 1860Gen. P. Thompson Audi Alt. III. cxxxvi. 108 The reason the parliamentary jobber hates the Ballot, is because he does not like buying a pig in a poke.
c.1553Bale Gardiner's De vera Obed. G iij, I thought it not mete..to make men thinke I had geuen them a pigge of another mannes sowe. 1562J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 155 Syr ye gyue me a pyg of myne owne sowe. 1611Cotgr. s.v. Chemise, To giue one a pig of his owne sow; to affoord him helpe out of his owne meanes. 1731Fielding Grub St. Op. iii. xiv, If you come to my house I will treat you With a pig of your own sow.
d.1702T. Brown Lett. fr. Dead Wks. 1760 II. 198 I'll have one of the wigs to carry into the country with me, an't [printed and] please the pigs. 1755Gentl. Mag. XXV. 115 The expression I mean is, An't please the pigs, in which..pigs is most assuredly a corruption of Pyx. 1800Southey Let. to Lieut. Southey 15 June in Life (1850) II. 83. 1825 T. Hook Say. & Doings Ser. ii. I. 183, I know what I will do, and that is, please the Pix, I'll marry Louisa to her cousin George. 1891Blackw. Mag. June 819/1 There I'll be, please the pigs, on Thursday night.
e.1748Smollett Rod. Rand. xv, Strap..observed that we had brought our pigs to a fine market. 1771― Humph. Cl. 19 May, Let. ii, Roger may carry his pigs to another market. 1873Punch 21 June 262/2 Government finds that in producing the competition Wallah, it has driven its pigs to a pretty market.
f.1849J. W. Perils Emigrant ii. 84, I..had exhausted every means of renewal, borrowing, exchanging cheques, drawing ‘pig on pork’, as it is technically called. 1872Porcupine 16 Nov. 515/2 In Liverpool..issuing a bill on their London branch establishment..in commercial phraseology, is termed drawing ‘pig upon bacon’. 1911W. Thomson Dict. Banking 397/1 ‘Pig upon bacon.’ In the case of an accommodation bill, where e.g., Brown accepts merely to oblige the drawer, Jones, Brown has no intention of meeting the bill at maturity. He expects that Jones will himself provide the funds necessary to pay the bill when it is due. As Jones in his own mind considers himself practically the acceptor as well as the drawer, Jones on Brown is therefore likened to a bill drawn by ‘Pig on Pork’ or ‘Pig upon Bacon’. 1920A. C. Pigou Econ. of Welfare ii. v. 144 The variety of accommodation bills known as ‘pig-on-bacon’, where the acceptor is a branch of the drawing house under an alias, is..different. 1930W. Thomson Dict. Banking (ed. 7) 548/2 When the drawers and drawees of a bill are the same, as when a foreign branch of a firm draws on its London office, and there are no documents for goods attached to the bill, the firm is said to be drawing ‘Pig on Pork’.
g.1872‘P. V. Nasby’ Struggles cxiii. 315 A poetickal cotashun..which..wuz,—‘Kum wun, kim all, this rock shel fly From its firm base—in a pig's eye.’ 1919W. H. Downing Digger Dial. 38 Pig's ear, a contemptuous ejaculation. 1932O. R. Cohen Star of Earth xxv. 270 ‘Here I am,’ he says: ‘I did it..and that means Mary didn't!’.. ‘In a pig's eye it does!’ 1942Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang §166/7 I don't believe it!.. It is in a pig's eye or arse! Ibid. §170/8 You are mistaken... It is in a pig's eye! or arse! Ibid. §229/5 You will not!.. In a pig's eye or arse you will! 1951E. Lambert Twenty Thousand Thieves 322 ‘Pig's arse to that!’ another voice cried. ‘A jack-up—that's the shot.’ 1957J. Blish Fallen Star v. 70 ‘You'll have to.’ ‘In a pig's eye,’ she said. 1962Observer 21 Jan. 11/7 Immigration from Ireland, said the Prime Minister.., will be included in the general controls. In a pig's eye it will. 1968W. Garner Deep, Deep Freeze ix. 110 ‘One stops short of probing the private lives of people for whom one has a regard.’ ‘In a pig's ear!’ she said vulgarly. ‘If duty called you'd have a man under the bed on my honeymoon.’ 1968H. Waugh Con Game v. 53 ‘He claimed he didn't want to—.’ Mrs. Fogarty said, ‘In a pig's eye he didn't want to.’ 1969G. Johnston Clean Straw for Nothing 307 ‘That's because she won't face realities.’ ‘Pig's arse. And anyway who are you to talk?’ 1973J. Wainwright Pride of Pigs 83 ‘Preston,’ suggested Harris. ‘In a pig's eye!’ growled Ripley. 1974P. Larkin High Windows 35 My wife and I have asked a crowd of craps To come and waste their time and ours: perhaps You'd care to join us? In a pig's arse, friend. 1976Time 5 Apr. 23/2 Attorney General Edward Levi let it be known that he considered the matter ‘extremely serious’. To officials of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Levi's comment was a monumental understatement. ‘Extremely serious in a pig's eye,’ said one. ‘It's a disaster.’
h.190019th Cent. July 81 [Ireland] ‘You're on the pig's back’ means prosperity. ‘The pig is on your back’ indicates misfortune. 1922Joyce Ulysses 177 That'll be two pounds ten... Three Hynes owes me... Five guineas about. On the pig's back. 1930[see home adv. 2 b]. 1946C. Mann in Coast to Coast 1945 27 We always were lucky. He's home on the pig's ear. 1949H. Wadman Life Sentence i. i. 10 Could anything be nicer? Basil is on the pig's back. 1958J. Lodwick Bid Soldiers Shoot viii. 277 Nixon, who in Crete had suffered horribly from solitude, was now a happy man—on the pig's back, one might say, and the image is appropriate since the grunting of the corralled porkers never ceased. 1962R. Wallis Point of Origin 11 Then aerial topdressing came in and they were on the pig's back. 1966‘L. Lane’ ABZ of Scouse ii. 78 On ther pig's back, lucky; doing well; in the money.
i.1954E. Hargreaves Handful of Silver xii. 183 ‘I've made a real pig's ear of it, haven't I?’ said Basil, with an attempt at lightness. 1973Observer 29 July 14/5 If you are doing something wrong, you will..make a pig's ear of its execution.
12. In various other phrases and locutions.
1546J. Heywood Prov. (1867) 84 Who that hath either of these pygs in vre, He hath a pyg of the woorse panier sure. 1670Ray Prov. 209 Like Goodyers pig, never well but when he is doing mischief. Chesh. 1709Brit. Apollo II. No. 62. 3/2 Whom all the Town follow, Like so many St. Anthony's Pigs. 1761Brit. Mag. II. 440 You'd have sworn he had got the wrong pig by the ear. 1808Scott Let. to Ellis 23 Dec. in Lockhart, I believe.., that when he [Sir A. Wellesley] found himself superseded [after Vimeiro], he suffered the pigs to run through the business. 1823Byron Juan vii. lxxxv, Ask the pig who sees the wind! 1828Craven Gloss. (ed. 2) s.v., ‘To drive pigs’, to snore. 1837Disraeli Corr. w. Sister 21 Nov., Gibson Craig..rose, stared like a stuck pig, and said nothing. 1845Mrs. Carlyle New Lett., to Carlyle 20 Aug., I ‘did intend’ that you should have had plenty of Letter to-day, but the pigs have run through it—and be hanged to them. 1903S. Hedin Centr. Asia II. 318 The sleeping men..went on driving their pigs to market for all they were worth.
b. In various phrases and locutions connected with the idea of pigs flying, freq. as a type of the unlikely or untrue.
1616W. Clerk Withals's Dict. Eng. & Lat. (rev. ed.) 583 Pigs fly in the ayre with their tayles forward. 1639J. Clarke Paroemiologia Anglo-Latina 147/1 Pigs fly in the aire with their tailes forward. 1670J. Ray Coll. Eng. Proverbs 189 Pigs fly in the air with their tails forward. c1860Proverb, Pigs may fly; but they are very unlikely birds. 1865‘L. Carroll’ Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ix. 155 ‘I've a right to think,’ said Alice sharply... ‘Just about as much right,’ said the Duchess, ‘as pigs have to fly.’ a1871A. De Morgan Budget of Paradoxes (1872) 275 There is a proverb which says, A pig may fly, but it isn't a likely bird. [1871‘L. Carroll’ Through Looking-Glass iv. 76 ‘The time has come,’ the Walrus said, ‘To talk of many things: Of shoes—and ships—and sealing-wax—Of cabbages—and kings—And why the sea is boiling hot—And whether pigs have wings.’] 1880C. H. Spurgeon John Ploughman's Pictures 32 They say that if pigs fly they always go with their tails forward. 1913Punch 13 Aug. 156/1 ‘If pigs could fly...’ The clumsy brutes can't, of course, while we flies can pig—see us in a confectioner's shop. 1937Partridge Dict. Slang 628/2 Pigs fly, when, never. 1949‘J. Tey’ Brat Farrar x. 81 ‘I may, some day. I may.’ ‘Pigs may fly.’ 1952Wodehouse (title) Pigs have wings. 1972‘J. Quartermain’ Rock of Diamond xxvii. 176 ‘I'll wait... Perhaps he'll have news...’ ‘Maybe... And maybe pigs have wings.’ 1973‘J. Higgins’ Prayer for Dying xii. 165 ‘Something could come out of that line of enquiry.’ ‘I know... Pigs might also fly.’
IV. attrib. and Comb. (Cf. those in hog n.1 VI.)
13. a. attributive, as pig-belly, pig bin (also fig.), pig-boy, pig-broth, pig-butcher, pig-byre, pig-eye, pig-feast, pig house (also fig.), pig-hutch, pig-leather, pig-life, pig-man (also fig.), pig manure, pig-meat (also fig.), pig-merchant, pig-pail, pig-pen (also fig.), pig-philosophy, pig-swill, pig-trough, pig-tub, pig-wire, pig-yard; (sense 6 b) pig car, pig station; from sense 7, pig ballast, pig trade, etc.
1797S. James Voy. Arabia 201 The boat..full of *pig ballast..was always half full of water.
1622Fletcher & Massinger Span. Curate ii. i, No man would think a stranger such as I am Should reap any great commodity from his *pigbelly.
1959I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. ix. 167 They call him [sc. a greedy-guts]: dustbin,..*pig-bin, [etc.]. 1972P. Black Biggest Aspidistra ii. iv. 124 Outside the houses stood a row of huge bins, one for collecting paper, one for tins, one for bottles, one for kitchen waste. They were known as pigbins, though..the pigs ate only the waste. 1979‘M. Hebden’ Death set to Music iii. 29 Pel sniffed at his stew. ‘I think they took it from the pig bin,’ he observed coldly.
1614B. Jonson Barth. Fair Induct., The language some where sauours of Smithfield, the Booth, and the *Pigbroath, or of prophaneness.
190619th Cent. June 967 Already half the cottage *pig-byres stand empty in our lanes.
1970G. Jackson Let. 10 June in Soledad Brother (1971) 36, I sat in the back of the pig car and bled for two hours.
1714Lond. Gaz. No. 5274/11 A little swarthy Woman, hath small *Pig Eyes. 1823Blackw. Mag. XIV. 520 The mallet-pate, pig-eye Chinese.
1845C. Cist Cincinnati Misc. I. 186 A stout looking fellow set his gun leaning on a *pig house, and jumped in to catch some fowls. 1950N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. Apr. 369/1 In considering the design of pig houses there are two main factors. 1960Farmer & Stockbreeder 9 Feb. 76/2 The value of..good pighouse insulation. 1963Amer. Speech XXXVIII. 173 [Kansas University] A sorority known for its unprepossessing members..campus pig house..pig house.
1839Carlyle Chartism iv. 127 He lodges to his mind in any *pighutch or doghutch.
1886W. J. Tucker E. Europe 304 His legs..in strong *pig-leather boots.
1825Whole Proc. Old Bailey 15 Jan. 116/2, I..saw the prisoner in the kitchen—he said, if I came with any *pigman he would knock my head off. 1898Blackw. Mag. Nov. 666/1 The pigman..had caught the five piglings. 1971Farmers Weekly 19 Mar. 75/3 Continental pigmen want hybrid boars. a1975Wodehouse Sunset at Blandings (1977) vii. 52 Clarence's pig man claims to have seen the White Lady of Blandings one Saturday night. 1976Eastern Daily Press (Norwich) 19 Nov. 11/1 (Advt.), Assistant pigman/woman required..to join staff of five, on 500-sow herd.
1960Farmer & Stockbreeder 1 Mar. 107/1 Future developments include a *pig-manure spreading service which will give back to the members the pig manure they would have had if they had reared their pigs on their farms. 1975J. Wyllie Butterfly Flood (1977) xxiii. 105 The compost heap was..activated by pig manure.
1798J. Woodforde Diary 2 July (1931) V. 125 *Pig Meat now is but of little value to what it has been. 1817Parl. Deb. 743 It prevented the preservation of meat, and especially of pig meat. 1895N. & Q. 10th Ser. IV. 512 [In Hants] The spare-rib and griskin of a bacon hog or sow are called pig-meat, whether large or small. 1897Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 790 In most cases the infected food has been pig meat. 1942Z. N. Hurston in Amer. Mercury July 96/1 Pig meat, young girl. 1970G. Greer Female Eunuch 265 Perhaps words like pig, pig-meat or dog are inspired by the sadness which follows unsatisfactory sex. 1971Farmers Weekly (Extra) 19 Mar. 12/2 High beef prices have pushed up demand for fresh pigmeat. 1977Times 8 Feb. 17/3 We break the [EEC] rules by subsidizing pigmeat.
1853Hickie tr. Aristoph. (1887) I. 33 A *pig-merchant of Megara.
1908Westm. Gaz. 18 Jan. 2/3 The cricket climbed the side of the..*pig-pail.
1833Marryat P. Simple xxvii, There are two cow-pens between the main-deck guns..converted into *pig-pens. 1872Harper's Mag. Apr. 690/2 A one-story wooden structure..became the rallying-place of the tribes. This [room], by reason of its general unsightliness, was denominated by Tammany's political adversaries the ‘Pig-Pen’. 1907J. London Let. 25 July (1966) 247 He left his stateroom the filthiest pig⁓pen I ever saw. 1952R. P. Bissell Monongahela i. 5, I took my paper suitcase out of the pigpen and up to the mates' room, and one thing sure, that mates' room smelled better than the deckhands' bunkroom, and even had a light in the bunk to read by, and a clean blanket with no fuel oil or coal ground into it. 1960T. Hughes Lupercal 38 Toward the pig-pens on his right. 1971M. Tak Truck Talk 118 Pigpen, a sloppy, ill-run truck stop. 1978J. Wainwright Jury People xxxv. 106 They carried him to the pig-pens. 1979R. Gillespie Crossword Mystery v. 116 ‘Did you search his place?’ ‘Yeah. A pigpen.’
1874L. Carr Jud. Gwynne I. i. 8 The *pig-philosophy of ‘rest and be thankful’.
1970G. Jackson Let. 10 June in Soledad Brother (1971) 34, I stopped attending school regularly, and started getting ‘picked up’ by the pigs more often. The *pig station, a lecture, and oak-stick therapeutics. 1975P. Moyes Black Widower i. 13 Assemble..outside the Georgetown Pig Station..for a protest march.
1889A. Sidgwick in Jrnl. Educ. Feb. 117 We began with Delectus—an awful institution, no more reading than a *pigtub is food.
1964Listener 19 Mar. 458/1 Scrapping the hedges, replacing them with concrete posts and *pigwire. 1971Ideal Home Apr. 119 To restrain dogs and children the cheapest and strongest I know is Smith's (of Bristol) Bulwark fencing—what my father calls pig-wire—a heavy galvanised mesh varying from 6 in. square at the top to 6 in. by 3 in. at the bottom, 32 in. high.
b. objective and obj. genitive, as pig-buyer, pig-dealer, pig-driver, pig-eater, pig-feeder, pig-jobber, pig-keeper, pig-killer, pig-netter, pig-stalker, pig-stealer, pig-taker; pig-breeding, pig-dealing, pig-driving, pig-eating, pig-feeding, pig-keeping, pig-rearing, pig-stalking, ns. and adjs. (sense 7) pig-breaking.
1902Encycl. Brit. XXIX. 578/1 A great saving of labour was effected by the introduction of ‘*pig-breaking’ machines.
1891Pall Mall G. 23 Dec. 2/1 Ballybricken is..chiefly remarkable as the place of residence of the *pig-buyers.
1851Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 359/2, I also entered into the *pig-dealing line.
1654Gayton Pleas. Notes ii. v. 57 Like Bartholemew Faire *pig-dressers.
1687Lond. Gaz. No. 2234/4 John Williams a Welshman, a *Pig driver.
1608Middleton Trick to Catch Old One iv. i, Convey my little *pig-eater out.
1810Splendid Follies I. 109 Industrious peasants pursuing their morning labours—some milking—some *pig-feeding.
1906Westm. Gaz. 20 Aug. 10/1 The fact, too, that acorns are a heavy crop will gladden the hearts of *pig-keepers. 1971Farmers Weekly (Extra) 19 Mar. 33/2 The slump has hit heavy hog producers hardest of all pig⁓keepers.
1923Blackw. Mag. Dec. 768/1 They concocted a plan by which the boar should be netted... Professional *pig-netters were summoned.
1907Westm. Gaz. 31 July 12/2 *Pig-rearing..is on the downward grade. 1960Farmer & Stockbreeder 29 Mar. 88/3 The most important ingredient of pig-rearing success is undoubtedly hard work. 1978Dumfries Courier 13 Oct. 20/1 A sow and seven piglets died early yesterday afternoon when fire raged through a pig-rearing building at Laghall Farm, New Abbey Road, Dumfries.
1908Westm. Gaz. 2 Mar. 5/2 ‘The indiscriminate offer of rewards in no way tends to the destruction of the real man-eater,’ says Mr. Rees, ‘while it ensures the extermination of the useful..deer and *pig-stalker.’
1867M. A. Barker Station Life N.Z. (1870) xv. 109 We go over the hills *pig-stalking.
1828P. Cunningham N.S. Wales (ed. 3) II. 250 Breadman had been a great *pig-stealer in his day.
c. instrumental, parasynthetic, etc., as pig-bribed, pig-haunted, pig-ploughed; pig-backed, pig-chested, pig-eyed, pig-footed, pig-haired, pig jawed, pig-snouted; pig-fat, pig-ignorant (hence pig-ignorance), pig-lucky, pig-proof, pig-sick, pig-sober, pig-sticky, pig-stupid, pig-tight, adjs.
In the last type of use, often merely with the force of an intensifier: extreme(ly), thorough(ly).
1880J. W. Zaehnsdorf Bookbinding xi. 42 Nothing can be more annoying than to see books lop-sided, *pig-backed. 1880Daily News 17 Sept. 16/2 The latter animal [a goat] is slightly pig-backed.
1613Beaum. & Fl. Coxcomb v. iii, Why kneel you to such a *pig-bribed fellow?
1895Review of Rev. Aug. 162 A sickly boy, ‘*pig-chested’.
1835Booth Analyt. Dict. 228 *Pig-eyed is a rude epithet when speaking of eyes that are small and deeply seated in the head. 1864Kingsley Rom. & Teut. iii. 74 Pig-eyed hideous beings.
1897Cavalry Tactics ii. 8 Not..that the troop horse is useless if he is not *pig fat.
1884Cassell's Fam. Mag. Apr. 272/1 The *pig-footed bandicot is another curious variety seen here.
1973H. Miller Open City xvii. 187 Boorishness and Glasgow-bred *pig-ignorance.
1972J. Wainwright Requiem for Loser iv. 82 I'm not *pig-ignorant... But you're pig-stupid. 1973A. Price October Men vi. 84 [He] was clearly pig-ignorant of everything that did not concern him. 1976T. Heald Let Sleeping Dogs Die vii. 132 Those press johnnies..would never twig. Too gullible and too pig ignorant.
1942‘M. Innes’ Daffodil Affair i. v. 30 ‘A nice dog,’ Appleby said... Mr Gee swung round. ‘Dish-faced,’ he said... ‘And undershot... *Pig-jawed, in fact.’
1939J. Steinbeck Grapes of Wrath xvi. 253 ‘Get her fixed?’ ‘We was *pig lucky,’ said Tom. ‘Got a part 'fore dark.’
1921H. Guthrie-Smith Tutira xix. 165 These *pig-ploughed shreds [of land].
1883Pall Mall G. 21 Sept. 12/2 The immense number of wild pigs makes cultivation impracticable without *pig-proof fences.
1948A. Baron From City from Plough i. 9 Wha's up, Sergeant?.. You look *pigsick. 1965A. Prior Interrogators xiii. 244 He was pig-sick of talking to the old bastard. 1977J. Wainwright Nest of Rats i. vii. 51, I was pig-sick of Rawle and his devious ways.
1923E. Sitwell Bucolic Comedies 9 And old *pig-snouted Darkness grunts and roots in the hovels. 1960Times 29 Sept. (Nigeria Suppl.) p. xxi/5 The weighty pig-snouted aardvark.
1945Koestler Twilight Bar iii. 62, I thought so. *Pig-sober.
1922Joyce Ulysses 445 Eat it and get all *pigsticky.
1972*Pig-stupid [see pig-ignorant adj.].
1859*Pig-tight [see bull-strong s.v. bull n.1 11]. a1930Pig-tight [see horse-high adj. s.v. horse n. 28 a].
14. a. Special Comb. (cf. hog n.1 13): pig board Surfing (see quots.); pig-boat U.S. slang, a submarine; pig-boiling Metallurgy, the puddling of unrefined pig-iron, which is characterized by a period of rapid bubbling of gas from the molten metal; pig brass, brass as it is cast after the first fusion; pig-cheer, viands made from the flesh or viscera of swine; pig-dog, (a) a dog used in hunting wild pigs in Australia and New Zealand; (b) used as a term of abuse; pig-hole, an aperture in a steel furnace through which fresh supplies of pig-iron may be introduced; pig-hull dial. = pigsty; pig-lifter, one employed in moving pig-iron: see quot.; pig-louse, the wood-louse or hog-louse, Oniscus; pig-maker, a manufacturer of pig-iron; pig-market, (a) a market held for the purchase and sale of swine; (b) a name vulgarly given to the Proscholium or antechamber of the Divinity School at Oxford: see quot. 1681; pig-mould, one of the channels in a pig-bed; pig net, a type of strong net; pig-plate = pig-iron 2; pig-potato, a small potato used to feed swine; = hog-potato (hog n.1 13); also fig.; pig-ring, a ring or strip of metal fixed in the snout of a hog to prevent it from grubbing, a hog-ring; pig-root v., (a) to root or grub in the earth like swine; (b) Austral., of a horse or other animal, to kick upwards with the hind legs, the forelegs remaining rigid; pig-rooting vbl. n., (a) N.Z., a patch of ground grubbed or rooted up by wild pigs; (b) the action of pig-root vb. (b); pig-run, a tract of land used by (wild) pigs; also, a track made or used by wild pigs in a forest; pig-sign N.Z., the droppings of wild pig(s); pig-stone, a concretion occurring in the intestines of the wild boar; pig-trotter, the foot of a pig, as an article of food; pig-washing Metallurgy, the refining of molten pig-iron by treatment with molten iron oxide; † pig-woman, a woman who sold roast pig at fairs, etc.; pig-wool, the finer hair of the swine, used in making flies for anglers; pig-yoke, (a) = hog-yoke; (b) a sextant or quadrant (slang). See also pig-bed, etc.
1965J. Pollard Surfrider ii. 18 Your board can be a ‘*pigboard’—wide at the stern and tapered to a point at the nose. 1970Studies in English (Univ. Cape Town) I. 28 Older designs include the pig board, that is, a board characterized by a narrow nose and a broad tail.
1921Periscope (U.S. Submarine Base, San Pedro, Calif.) Apr. 21/1 The dukes what passes the exam..finally goes to the subs..and they career as a *pig bout [sic] sailor is started. This of course, means a sub, witch they is also called sea pigs. 1939Newsweek 9 Jan. 20/1 Presumably Germany will now build up to this by constructing ocean⁓going pigboats. 1974G. Jenkins Bridge & Magpies xiv. 218, I understand now what the pig-boat saying means—‘by guess and by God’. 1975Redbook Aug. 118/3 What do you think about Pearl Harbor? The newer boats are there. I'd like to get one of them and avoid the old pig⁓boats if I can.
1856J. Hall in Birmingham Jrnl. 26 Sept. Suppl. 3/5 As regards the improved apparatus for the refinery, my principle is the doing away with the refinery process by *pig boiling. 1882[see wet a. 17]. 1928H. M. Boylston Introd. Metallurgy Iron & Steel vi. 187 Hall's process was also known as the ‘pig-boiling process’ because of the vigorous boiling or bubbling of the molten metal. 1958A. D. Merriman Dict. Metallurgy 244/1 Pig boiling, the name used in reference to that stage in the puddling process..when the original pig iron is melted and thoroughly mixed with the oxidising substances... The whole mass..becomes agitated with the escape of carbon monoxide giving the impression of ‘boiling’.
1897Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 938 Those who remelt the *pig brass, and are called ‘founders’.
1871Archæologia (1873) XLIV. 208 Christmas was formerly, as now, the principal season for ‘*pig-cheer’.
1845E. J. Wakefield Adv. in N. Zealand II. i. 6 The *pig-dogs are of rather a mongrel breed. 1877Gillies in Trans. N.Z. Inst. X. 321 A pig-dog of the bull-terrier breed. 1922Joyce Ulysses 460 Pig dog and always was ever since he was pupped! 1961B. Crump Hang on a Minute 18 My mate reckoned he'd never laughed so much since his brother's pig-dogs got loose and followed him into the Waitawheta dance hall! 1977N.Z. Herald 8 Jan. 4–9/6 (Advt.), Pig dog pups, boxer blue merle pointer cross.
1828Craven Gloss. (ed. 2), *Pighul, a pig cote or stye.
1892Labour Commission Gloss., *Pig-lifters, also called ‘metal-carriers’..those who take the pig-iron out of the troughs of sand into which it has been placed to cool, and stack it on the trucks used in conveying it away for sale.
1819G. Samouelle Entomol. Compend. 111 It is commonly called *Pig-louse, Wood-louse, Millepede.
1891Daily News 12 Jan. 2/7 *Pigmakers are complaining of the exceedingly high prices of coke.
1681Wood Life 11 Feb. (O.H.S.) II. 517 Note that the Divinity Schoole hath been seldome used since altered and changed (but before 'twas a *pig-market). 1853‘C. Bede’ Verdant Green v, They made their way to the classic ‘Pig-market’, to wait the arrival of the Vice-Chancellor.
1839Ure Dict. Arts 754 The smelter runs off the lead into the *pig-moulds.
1907Yesterday's Shopping (1969) Index p. xlvi/3 Nets... *Pig. 1966D. Francis Flying Finish v. 54 A cart with a pig-net over it. 1971Country Life 11 Mar. 533/1 Some chaps got a tiddler [sc. a sturgeon], weighed a hunderd pound, in a pig net.
1787J. Farley Lond. Art Cookery (ed. 4) 35 Having spitted your pig, sew it up, and lay it down to a brisk, clear fire, with a *pig-plate hung in the middle of it.
1796Stedman Surinam II. xxvi. 244 These roots are tuberous, flattish, small,..not unlike *pig-potatoes. 1866Geo. Eliot F. Holt xxviii, Not very big or fine, but a second size—a pig-potato, like.
1862Wilde Catal. Antiq. in R. Irish Acad. 18 A small portion had been cut out..to make a *pig-ring.
1890‘R. Boldrewood’ Miner's Right xix, *Pig-rooting a man's very prospecting claim, as if it was ‘old ground’. 1913W. K. Harris Outback in Australia 27 We had a second horse afflicted with a tendency to buck, and this one could be depended upon to ‘pig-root’ for at least half a mile as soon as we made a start. 1957P. White Voss x. 276 This caused Turner to curse and kick, and his nag in consequence to sidle and pigroot.
1921H. Guthrie-Smith Tutira xix. 169 It [sc. manuka] now began to colonise the paddock..appearing about *pig-rootings, along sheep-tracks. 1966‘J. Hackston’ Father clears Out 168 Bucking, backbending, side⁓jumping, leaping, and pig-rooting.
1848T. Chapman Jrnl. 3 Dec. II. 381 (typescript), Thousands of Acres on all sides of you... Here and there little patches are under cultivation—the rest are ‘*pig-runs’. 1900Geogr. Jrnl. XVI. 174 In dense forest where the pig-runs are the only means of passage. 1950N.Z. Jrnl. Agric. 346/3 This type of utilisation..at the same time allows some rejuvenation of the pasture in the permanent pig runs. 1960B. Crump Good Keen Man 57, I was thoroughly interrogated every evening as to the whereabouts of any fresh pig-sign I had seen that day [in the bush].
1851Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 18/2 The.. *pig-trotter women will give you notice when the time is come.
1887Phillips & Bauerman Elem. Metallurgy (ed. 2) 280 A similar process, used for some time by Krupp, was described by the late Mr. A. L. Holley under the name of ‘*pig-washing’. 1910Encycl. Brit. XIV. 824/2 In the Bell-Krupp or ‘pig-washing’ process..advantage is taken of the fact that..the phosphorus and silicon of molten cast iron are quickly oxidized and removed by contact with molten iron oxide. 1958A. D. Merriman Dict. Metallurgy 244/2 Pig-washing process, a term used in reference to those methods of refining molten pig iron by oxidising treatment at relatively low temperatures.
1614B. Jonson Barth. Fair ii. vi, Smoak'd like the back-side of the *Pig-woman's Booth, here.
1892Gentlewomen's Bk. Sports I. 20 His fly⁓book of silk-bodied, *pig-wool, red or orange feathered flies.
1836Marryat Midsh. Easy xiv, Old Smallsole could not do better with his ‘*pig-yoke’ and compasses. 1845Knickerbocker XXV. 424 Yellow buttons..‘and geese’, as he said, ‘sittin' on a pig-yoke, printed on to 'em.’ 1885Athenæum 10 Oct. 468 The pig yoke was a wooden frame which was fastened around the necks of pigs to hinder them from forcing a way through hedges.
b. In names of animals and plants: as pig-cony, the guinea-pig; pig-deer, the Babiroussa; pig-face, pig's face Austral., a succulent plant belonging to the family Aizoaceæ, esp. Disphyma (formerly Mesembryanthemum) australe, bearing pink or purplish-red flowers and edible fleshy berries; also, the berries themselves; also attrib.; pig-fern N.Z. the hard fern, Paesia scaberula, of the family Polypodiaceæ; also called lace-fern, ring-fern, and scented fern; pig-fish, a popular name in America and Australia of various fishes; pig-lily, a popular name in S. Africa of the Arum lily, Zantedeschia æthiopica, the root of which is eaten by porcupines; pig-mouse, the water-shrew; pig-pea, a variety of field pea. (Cf. hog n.1 13 c, d.)
1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 88 Indian little *Pig-cony. I received the picture of this beast from a certain Noble-man.
1834Ross Van Diemen's Land Ann. 133 (Morris) *Pig faces; called by the aborigines..canagong. 1846Lindley Veg. Kingd. 526 The natives of Australia eat the fruit of M[esembryanthemum] æquilaterale (Pig-faces, or Canagong). 1889J. H. Maiden Useful Native Plants Austral. i. 44 ‘Pig Faces’... The fleshy fruit is eaten raw by the aborigines. The leaves are eaten baked. 1898Morris Austral Eng., Pig-face, Pig-faces, and Pig's face, or Pig's-faces. 1920B. Cronin Timber Wolves 69 On the crest of a knoll, Heritage paused a moment to admire the royal purple of the pig-face bloom. 1933Bulletin (Sydney) 29 Nov. 21/3 The fleshy leaves of the pigface plant, which grows along the sandy seashores. 1944[see ice-plant]. 1963Moore & Adams Plants N.Z. Coast 59 Disphyma australe..ice-plant, pig-face. 1977J. Galbraith Field Guide Wild Flowers S.E. Austral. 114 ‘Pigface’ with large pink flowers.
1926F. W. Hilgendorf Weeds N.Z. ii. 19 Hard fern (Paesia scaberula), called also *pig fern and silver fern, is abundant in both islands. 1929W. Martin N.Z. Nature Bk. (1930) II. iv. 44 Pig-fern and Lace-fern are local names given to a dwarf species (Paesia scaberula), with finely divided leaflets. 1952G. R. Gilbert Glass 59 Struggling through the thick scrub and tangled pig-fern, the brother and sister tramped on towards the mountains.
1860Bartlett Dict. Amer. (ed. 3) s.v. Sea-robin, From the croaking or grunting noise it makes when caught, it is sometimes called *Pig-Fish. 1898Morris Austral Eng., Pig-fish, name given to the fish Agriopus leucopœcilus,..in Dunedin; called also the Leather-jacket... In Sydney it is Cossyphus unimaculatus,..a Wrasse, closely related to the Blue-groper. In Victoria, Heterodontus phillipi,..the Port Jackson Shark.
1848C. J. F. Bunbury Jrnl. Residence Cape of Good Hope viii. 188 Calla (Zantedeschia) æthiopica... Commonly called at the Cape the *Pig Lily. 1870Cape Monthly Mag. Aug. 104 The ‘arum’..grows in all the ditches under the title of ‘pig-lily’. 1880Silver & Co.'s S. Africa (ed. 3) 148 Associated by name with the Lilies is what is known as the Pig Lily. 1887Rider Haggard Jess 44 Thousands of white arum lilies,—pig-lilies they call them there. 1971U. van der Spuy Wild Flowers S. Afr. for Garden 229/2 It [sc. Zantedeschia æthiopica] is said to have been given the common name of ‘pig-lily’ because in the south-western Cape, where it grows prolifically, pigs are said to relish the rootstock.
1905Standard 8 Feb. 2/5 The ‘*pig mouse’ of the cress farmer is the water shrew.
1766Complete Farmer s.v. Pease, The common white pea, the gray pea, the *pig pea, and some other large winter peas.
c. Combinations with pig's: as pig's cheek, pig's cote, pig's eye, pig's fry, pig's hair; pig's breakfast, used as a type of the unappetizing or unattractive; pig's ear Rhyming slang, beer; pig's face: see pig-face in b; pig's foot, † (a) a dipping-pail used in brewing, and also for carrying dry articles; (b) a kind of crow-bar; (c) = pig-trotter (chiefly pl.); pig's meat, food for swine; also fig.; pig's whisper, (a) a very brief space of time (slang); (b) a low whisper (dial.); pig's whistle U.S. slang = pig's whisper (a). Also pig's-wash. Many of the combinations with pig's also occur in phrases (see 11).
1933L. G. D. Acland in Press (Christchurch, N.Z.) 9 Sept. 15/7 Two may possibly be Canterbury expressions..(1) As rough as a bag. (2) As rough as a *pig's breakfast. 1948K. M. Wells Owl Pen Reader (1969) i. 45 Lucy and I looked unbelievingly at the mess in the kettles. Bits of charred wood, charcoal, old leaves and wood ash floated there in the midst of an uninviting white scum. It looked like poor porridge, a pig's breakfast to us.
1844Stephens Bk. Farm II. 242 The heads should be cut off one after the other, and eaten as green *pig's-cheek.
1880D. W. Barrett Life & Work among Navvies (ed. 2) ii. 40 ‘Now, Jack, I'm goin' to get a tiddley wink of *pig's ear..’. A tiddley wink of pig's ear!.. What does it mean? Simply this...a workman..goes to get a drink of beer. Had our friend wished for something more potent than the pig's ear aforesaid, he would have substituted the phrase..‘Tommy get out, and let your father in’, meaning thereby gin. 1936J. Curtis Gilt Kid xx. 199 But the most of the fiver would go in the old pig's ear. 1974P. Wright Lang. Brit. Industry x. 88 In the pub you can ask for a pint of pig's ear (beer).
1853Kingsley Hypatia xix, With a sleek pale face, small *pig's eyes, and an enormous turban.
1848Westgarth Australia Felix ix. 132 The *pig's face is an extremely common production of the Australian soil. 1929‘M. B. Eldershaw’ House is Built iii. ix. 217 Nothing but a few clumps of pig's face throve in the pockets of earth it provided.
1467Yatton Churchw. Acc. (Som. Rec. Soc.) 120 Payd for a *pyggsfote to bare cols, jd. 1790Pennant London (1813) 322 That resistless species of crow, well known to housebreakers by the name of the Pig's-foot. 1922H. Crane Let. 23 Jan. (1965) 78 We begin with pigs' feet and sauerkraut. 1968C. Brown in Esquire Apr. 88/1 Certain foods..are associated almost solely with the nigger: collard greens..hog maws, black-eyed peas, pigs' feet.
1788J. Woodforde Diary 7 Nov. (1927) III. 63 We had for Dinner, Some Fish..Giblets, *Piggs Fry. 1939F. Thompson Lark Rise i. 13 The first delicious dish of pig's fry sizzling in the frying-pan. 1970G. E. Evans Where Beards wag All xxv. 264, I had a fancy for something tasty, and one night I gave her a pig's fry and asked her to cook it for us for next day.
1894Du Maurier Trilby (1895) 105 His twiddling little footle *pig's-hair brush.
1896Crockett Grey Man xxxv. 233 A pail of *pigs' meat in her hand.
1821P. Egan Real Life in London I. xi. 189 The lad nibbled the bait, and was off in a *pig's whisper. [Note] Pig's Whisper—A very common term for speed. 1837Dickens Pickw. xxxii, You'll find yourself in bed, in something less than a pig's whisper. 1883Gd. Words 84 He confided his secret, wrapped up in a pig's whisper to the earth. 1963Times 11 Mar. 1/7 If you are unfortunate enough to snore, you are said ‘to drive pigs’, or perhaps you may do something in a very short time, in which case it is said that you have done it ‘in a pig's whisper’.
1860Bartlett Dict. Amer. (ed. 3) s.v., ‘I'll do so in less than a *pig's whistle’.
▪ II. pig, n.2 Now Sc. and Northumbld.|pɪg|
Forms: 5 pygg, 6 pyg, pigge, 9 pigg, 6– pig.
[Origin unknown; see also piggin.]
1. An earthenware pot, pitcher, jar, or other vessel; especially one that has no specific name; a crock. Rarely a vessel of tin or wood (obs.).
c1440Alphabet of Tales 340 Euerilk day..was broght vnto hym a lofe of bread and a pygg with wyne & a light candyll. 1488Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 79 Deliuerit be Dene Robert Hog, channoune of Halirudhous, to the Thesaurare, tauld in presens of the Chancellare, Lord Lile..in a pyne pig of tyn. 1513Douglas æneis vii. xiv. 25 Furth of ane payntit pyg, quhair as he stude, A gret river defundand or a flude. 1588Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees) II. 312, j litle wood coup, j paer of muster quernes of wood, j litle wood pigge, iiij wood dishes, j earthen panne. 1673Wedderburn's Vocab. 13 (Jam.) Urna, a pitcher or pig. 1724in Ramsay Tea-t. Misc. (1733) II. 181 A pig, a pot, and a kirn there ben. 1818S. E. Ferrier Marriage II. 187, I would send him one of our hams, and a nice little pig of butter. 1818Scott Hrt. Midl. xlix, It wad be better laid out on yon bonny grass⁓holms, than lying useless here in this auld pigg. 1862A. Hislop Prov. Scot. 170 She that gangs to the well wi' an ill-will, either the pig breaks or the water will spill.
†b. Applied to a cinerary urn. Obs.
1535Stewart Cron. Scot. (Rolls) I. 244 Syne all his bodie brint wes untill ass..Syne in ane pig wounderfullie wes wrocht, Tha war put in and to the tempill brocht. 1536Bellenden Cron. Scot. (1821) II. 346 Ane pig craftely ingravin, in quhilk was found certane bonis wound in silk.
c. A chimney-pot (of earthenware). rare.
1822Galt Provost xxiv. 177 Pigs from the lum-heads came rattling down like thunder-claps.
d. Earthenware as a material; also, a pot-sherd or fragment of earthenware such as children use in some games. Sc. dial.
1808–18in Jamieson. Mod. Sc. Made o' common pig, not o' cheenie. The wee lassie was playan' wi' her pigs on the grund.
e. pigs and whistles, fragments; trivialities; to go to pigs and whistles, to be ruined.
1681S. Colvil Whigs Supplic. (1751) 161 Discoursing of their Pigs and whistles, And strange experiments of Muscles [note, Pigs and whistles, Gimcraks]. 1786Har'st Rig xlviii. (1801) 18 So he to pigs and whistles went And left the land. 1862Mrs. Carlyle Lett. III. 125 Curious what a curative effect a railway journey has on me always, while you it makes pigs and whistles of!
2. Comb. (all Sc.): pig-ass, an ass which draws a pig-cart, a cart filled with crockery for sale, a mugger's cart; pig-man, a seller of crockery, a mugger; pig-shop, a crockery shop; pig-wife, a female vendor of crockery.
1787W. Taylor Poems 79 Frae Phoebus' beams ye apes retire, Wi' your *Pig-asses.
1898Westm. Gaz. 25 Oct. 2/1 Sometimes the clanging of a ‘*pig-cart’ bell is heard far down the street.
1681S. Colvil Whigs Supplic. (1751) 120 Wallace, Who in a *pig-man's weed, at Bigger Espied all the English leagure.
1896‘Ian Maclaren’ Kate Carnegie 226 His father keepit a *pig chop [= shop].
1787W. Taylor Poems 79 note, Some ape Poets may be said rather to lead *Pig Wives' cripple Asses. 1821Blackw. Mag. Jan. 423 Already has the ‘Pig Wife's’ early care Mark'd out a station, for her crockery ware.
Sense 1 e in Dict. becomes 1 f. Add: [1.] e. An earthenware container filled with hot water and used as a hot-water bottle; also, a stone bed-warmer.
1869R. Leighton Scotch Words 7 This nicht is cauld, my leddy, wad ye please, To hae a pig i' the bed to warm yer taes? 1903Eng. Dial. Dict. IV. 496/1 A traveller reported that in Northumberland the people slept with the pigs for warmth. He had been asked if he would have a piggy in his bed. 1924J. H. Bone Crystal Set 31 Ye canna go tae yer bed wantin' yer pig. 1941J. Cary House of Children xxix. 126 ‘Keep them in the bedroom cupboard till you want them..like pigs in summer.’ A pig was a stone hot-water bottle. 1981C. Miller Childhood in Scotland 25 The housemaids were..putting in stone hot-water bottles—known as ‘pigs’.
▪ III. pig, v.|pɪg|
[f. pig n.1]
1. Of a sow: To bring forth pigs; to farrow. (Cf. to child, kid, lamb, foal, etc.) Also transf. and fig.
a. intr.
c1532G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 952 To pygge as a sowe, pourceler. 1607Topsell Four-f. Beasts (1658) 532 A Sow which hath once pigged. 1660Peters Last Will in Harl. Misc. (Park) VII. 135 The bed that Pope Joan pigged in. 1844Stephens Bk. Farm II. 698 A sow..about to pig..will carry straw in her mouth, and collect it in a heap in some retired corner of a shed.
b. trans.
1575Turberv. Venerie 150 When his dame dothe pigge him, [the bore] hath as many teeth as euer he will haue whyles he liueth. 1593Nashe Four Lett. Confut. Wks. (Grosart) II. 199 This is not halfe the littour of inckehornisme, that those foure pages haue pigd. 1699E. Tyson in Phil. Trans. XXI. 432 This Monster was pigged alive. 1760Chron. in Ann. Reg. 117/1 A large sow..has pigged 21 pigs at one litter. 1805R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. II. 1194 The litters which are pigged in June..should always be reared.
2. a. intr. To huddle together in a disorderly, dirty, or irregular manner; to herd, lodge, or sleep together, like pigs; to sleep in a place like a pigsty; also to pig it. Also const. along, to live from day to day like an animal.
1675Cotton Scoffer Scoft 52 When I pig'd with mine own Dad. 1697Vanbrugh Provok'd Wife v. ii. 65 So, now you being as dirty and as nasty as myself, we may go pig together. 1806–7J. Beresford Miseries Hum. Life (1826) xiv. i, The only hole in which you can pig for the night. 1828Craven Gloss. (ed. 2), ‘To pig together’, to lie, like pigs, two or three together. 1857Ecclesiologist XVIII. 312 The six-and-thirty Irish families who pig in the adjoining alley. 1889G. Allen Tents of Shem ii, You'd have to pig it with the goats and the cattle. 1896Pall Mall Gaz. Sept. 70 She isn't fit to pig along in the way we have to here. 1909[see master-mind n. a]. 1930J. Buchan Castle Gay ix. 145 They would have to pig it in a moorland inn. 1931Times Lit. Suppl. 19 Feb. 131/3 It was not enough for Arthur Phelps ‘just to pig along’, working to live and living to work. 1939G. B. Shaw In Good King Charles's Golden Days ii. 112 Give me a skilled trade and eight or ten shillings a week, and you and I, beloved, would pig along more happily than we have ever been able to do as our majesties. 1964‘M. Innes’ Money from Holme xxvi. 171 ‘Dear me,’ Binchy said. ‘If it isn't friend Cheel.’ He turned to Braunkopf. ‘Cheel and I pig together, more or less.’ 1977― Honeybath's Haven iii. 34 He didn't approve of the proposal to pig it in the studio.
b. trans. To crowd (persons) together like pigs.
1882Schouler Hist. U.S. II. 276 Pigging travellers together in the same chamber if not in the same bed. 1882Daily News 20 May 2/2 Women and children were often found in them ‘pigged’ into small rooms.
†3. Glove-making. To hang many skins together.
1688R. Holme Armoury iii. 86/2 Pigging is hanging of many skins together. 1726Dict. Rust. s.v. Wet-glover.
Add:4. intr. to pig out, to over-indulge or ‘make a pig of oneself’ by over-eating. Also const. on (the food specified) and transf. slang (orig. and chiefly N. Amer.).
1978T. Gifford Glendower Legacy (1979) 73 I'm just going to pig out at home. 1981J. Fonda Workout Bk. (1982) 29 Troy and Vanessa..pig out for days on leftover Halloween candy. 1986Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 11 Oct. (Weekend Suppl.) 9/2 Laura pigs out on junk food and watches late night movies. 1987Observer 15 Nov. 10/2 You may not want to ‘pig out’, as the brochure pleasantly puts it, on movies and junk food for two days. 1987Time 11 May 29/1 To prevent Americans from pigging out on between-meal snacks, herewith some..tips.
d. trans. To eat or appropriate (food) greedily. Cf. hog v.1 5 a, d. colloq.
1979G. Swarthout Skeletons 96 That finished dinner for her. But not for me. I pigged everything. 1984A. Lurie Foreign Affairs (1985) ix. 217 ‘There was quite a lot of food.’ ‘Really? No one offered me any... Pigging it all for themselves, most likely.’ |