| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 847.1 | Is this right? | WELMT2::HILL | I have a cunning plan, my lord! | Wed Dec 05 1990 18:06 | 6 |
| I've heard as 'living high off the hog'.
I'd assumed that it referred to spit-roast hog, in which the best cuts
of meat are near the top of the back.
Nick
|
| 847.2 | Swine flew | SSDEVO::GOLDSTEIN | | Wed Dec 05 1990 19:27 | 5 |
| Add my name to those who have never heard of it. What does it mean?
I assume it is different from "In a pig's eye!", which means more or
less "Hell no!"
Bernie
|
| 847.3 | | WELMT2::HILL | I have a cunning plan, my lord! | Thu Dec 06 1990 14:59 | 8 |
| Sorry Bernie,
'Living high off the hog', which may or may not be the same as 'On the
pig's back' is a disparaging way of saying that a person is leading a
very enviable life-style. In fact a live-style which is probably
beyond their means if they want to sustain it.
Nick
|
| 847.4 | not particularly negative | TLE::RANDALL | Bonnie Randall Schutzman | Thu Dec 06 1990 17:36 | 9 |
| I've never heard of "on the pig's back".
I've never thought "high on the hog" had any particular negative
connotations. It seems to describe a lavish lifestyle or an
exceptional level of comfort, which can of course be regarded in
either an approving or a derogatory way depending on whether it's
one's own lifestyle or the lifestyle of someone else.
--bonnie
|
| 847.5 | Pig irony | SSDEVO::GOLDSTEIN | | Thu Dec 06 1990 20:33 | 14 |
| Re: .3, .4
I have heard the expression "high on the hog." It's "on the pig's
back" that's new to me.
I agree with Bonnie that "high on the hog" is not disparaging unless
one makes an effort to make it so. In fact, it is not unusual to hear
people describing themselves as living high on the hog. I don't think
it implies necessarily that one is living beyong his means, but merely
that one is living well.
So does anyone know what "on the pig's back" means?
Bernie
|
| 847.6 | | KAOFS::S_BROOK | Originality = Undetected Plagiarism | Thu Dec 06 1990 23:17 | 9 |
| I believe that it come's from "On a hog's back" which refers to a breed
called a razor back hog and is thus like the more common expression
"on a razor's edge".
There is a short range of hills in southern England that runs from Guildford
to Farnham called the Hog's Back about 12 miles long and is essentially an
/\ for that whole length with a road running along the top.
Stuart
|
| 847.7 | | TKOV51::DIAMOND | This note is illegal tender. | Fri Dec 07 1990 02:05 | 2 |
| > "On a hog's back" which refers to a breed
Especially if it's another hog.
|
| 847.8 | read .0 again | MACNAS::SPOMPHRETT | | Fri Dec 07 1990 15:00 | 9 |
| If you folks had READ .0 you would have seen the meaning of the
expression. It means exactly what the last line in that note says -
you are doing well
you are in luck
you have cracked whatever problem you had
...
or any other sentence you care to substitute for any of the above.
Sean
|
| 847.9 | | KAOFS::S_BROOK | Originality = Undetected Plagiarism | Fri Dec 07 1990 17:42 | 10 |
| OK Sean,
I admit, I only glanced at .0, and because I use an automated notes reader
I don't have the luxury of going back to earlier notes ... so I replied
to later notes, not the original.
Anyway, the meaning you describe makes sense too given that the way a
pig will squirm around, and given its shape (razor back!)
Stuart
|
| 847.10 | Hog mild | SSDEVO::GOLDSTEIN | | Fri Dec 07 1990 19:51 | 7 |
| Re: .8
By golly, you're right. There it is in .0 big as life. Seek and thee
shall find. It is clear at last; "on the pig's back" means in the catbird
seat.
Bernie
|
| 847.11 | What about a sheep's back? | AUSSIE::TWIGG | | Mon Dec 10 1990 04:32 | 13 |
|
Re: .0
I don't know about "on a pig's back", but in Australia we use the
saying "riding on a sheep's back", meaning "onto a good thing".
The saying was certainly around in the 1950s, when it was said that
the Australian economy was riding on a sheep's back, because sheep
were our biggest export earner.
Lynette
|
| 847.12 | 847.11 sounds suspiciously like... :-) | NEMAIL::KALIKOWD | ThatsNotPROBLEMsThatsLIFE! | Mon Dec 10 1990 13:36 | 4 |
| ... "animal husbandry" to me...
(From the Tom Lehrer song -- "He went to agricultural college and
majored in ... until they caught him at it one day..." :-)
|
| 847.13 | Self-propelled Bacon Bus | NEWOA::LOVELL | � l'eau; c'est l'heure | Sun Jan 13 1991 01:03 | 11 |
| .0 was more or less there
I certainly remember from a study of idiomatic English that this expression
came from Ireland and it referred to the times when agricultural folk would
take their wares to market. If you had a pig, you were generally thought
to be pretty well off 'cos if you didn't sell it for a huge amount at
this week's market, you could at least ride it home.
I always remember having personally doubted the feasibility of an Irishman
remaining stable on a perambulating pig but was always prepared to give this
talented race the benefit of the doubt.
|