WEIGHTY WORDS

 Pigdom has given our language many colorful expressions. We enthusiastically go whole hog or even hog wild about a new fad. "Whole hog" originated early in the nineteenth century possibly from a rather strange poem about hypocrisy by William Cowper (1731 - 1800) that had a section on the eating of pork by Musselmen (Muslims), but pointing out that we are all hypocrits. The final stanza is: "Each thinks his neighbor makes too free, Yet likes a slice as well as he: With sophistry their sauce they sweeten, Till quite from tail to snout 'tis eaten." Another possibility is the phrase might have come from the early use of "hog" to denote a dime much as we call a dollar bill a buck. "Hog wild" was first used in the middle of the nineteenth century by American farmers who had observed the noise and activity of aroused pigs. 

"As independent as a hog on ice" is not as easy to understand. Most animals are extremely ungraceful on slippery ice, and pigs are no exception. Independent? Hardly! The expression is of Scottish origin and concerns the sport of curling. If you watched the 2018 Olympics, you know that curling is played on the ice with two teams of four and eight large smooth stones with handles for each team. Each side tries to shove the other team's stones off the target area. It's a bit like shuffleboard. A stone that isn't released with enough momentum to move it at least 5/6 of the way down the course is known as a hog. Perhaps originally the stone was allowed to lie there thus blocking the other stones from the target. The stone hogged the ice much as a driver might hog the road thus appearing to be inconsiderate and independent. Later a rule was added to allow the hog to be moved, but by then the phrase was already part of the language. Do you think that explanation is hogwash? Maybe it is. "Hogwash" was the common term 500 years ago for pig swill, but even then it was mostly garbage.

Garbage is one of the reasons pigs were probably the second easiest animal to domesticate (dogs were probably the first). The ancestor of the domestic pig was probably attracted to human middens or trash heaps. Young ones were probably fairly easy to catch and very easy to feed. They have always been fairly tractable when they are fed.

Pigs have never had very good press. Giving something to someone who is unappreciative is referred to as "casting pearls before swine". This is a reference to Matthew 7:6. 
"Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you."

 "Your room is a pig sty!" How many of us have heard a parent say that? Wild pigs use their noses to root around in the soft earth to uncover tubers, grubs and other delicacies such as truffles. Good truffle-hogs are in great demand in Europe and are fitted with special harnesses so they can locate (but not eat them all!) the tasty underground mushrooms for their handlers. Captive pigs have not lost the instinct to root so they root around in their pens and make a mess. When mixed with water this glorious mud keeps the pigs cool and sunburn-free (yes - pigs sunburn very easily since they don't have fur, feathers or scales). Some people claim pigs are even smarter than dogs or cats. Performing miniature pigs certainly seem very clever, but I think intelligence depends upon what criteria are being used.

My favorite pig word is "ham". Have you ever known someone who is a real ham? It generally means someone who overacts, often delightfully so. The derivation might not even come from a pig but rather from the lower class British addition of an "h" before the word "amateur", similar to the derivation of a ham radio operator. Another theory is that it comes from the nineteenth century theater. Good actors could afford cold cream to remove their stage makeup. Bad actors could only afford ham fat and so were known as hamfatters.

Collective nouns are always interesting. A group of pigs is usually called a herd and the person attending them is called a swineherd, but my favorite noun for a group of pigs is a drift! I picture clouds drifting. Maybe it's not clouds, but a drift of pigs flying!



Madison Claire wrote the following ditty:
               WHEN PIGS FLY                    
Yesterday he asked permission to kiss her.
"When pigs fly!" she said with a laugh and a scoff.
Today he marched in holding a pig with wings
Duct-taped on (so they wouldn't fall off).

He tossed it in the air, I swear it did fly
I know because I saw him kiss her goodbye.