Chrysti The Wordsmith: Pig Expressions

Greetings and welcome to Christie the wordsmith from KTLA TFM in Bozeman Montana. Amongst the many English language expressions inspired by animals. The pig and the hawg figure prominently. Consider sweat like a pig hog heaven. Go hog wild pig in a poke. Hogwash In a pig's eye when pigs have wings. Live high on the hog today on Christie the wordsmith will root out the origins of a pair of these poor sign phrases. You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear is a proverb meaning it's impossible to fashion something of quality with inappropriate raw material. While much of a hog carcass can be rendered useful a sow's ear can never be processed to resemble anything as delicate as a silk purse. The publication of the modern version of this proverb has been attributed to author Jonathan Swift but variations of the phrase have been around since the 15th hundreds. Of more recent vintage is the idiom live high on the hog which

originated in the American South in the 19th century. The expression means to prosper and to spend money freely. It relies on the notion that the expensive cuts of pork such as the loyal roast and Ham are taken from high on the hog carcass while the lower part of the animal yields the cheaper cuts such as the hawk the feet in the jowl. I'm Christi the wordsmith from Montana State University in Bozeman. Good day for the whores Christie the wordsmith is sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Zoot enterprises. A high tech firm in Bozeman Montana offering challenging careers and innovative solutions for the financial services industry sued web dotcom.