The Language of Pork: Part 2

google-licence-filtered-10774899_b9ebda3770_oWhen your mom calls your messy room a “pig sty,” tell her she has it all wrong because real pigs like to keep their pens clean. They divide their living space into separate areas for sleeping, feeding, dunging and playing.

When is a hog not just a pig??

  • A hog is also a machine used in the lumber industry to grind slabs of wood into small pieces for firewood.
  • A hog is also a printer (a person who prints flyers, advertisements and signage).
  • It’s a curling rock that doesn’t make it over the hog line.

And when is a pig not a pig?
When it’s Pig Iron! Molten iron from a blast furnace is run into molds dug into the sand; these molds are a series of parallel trenches connected by a channel which runs at right angles to them — and the whole looks something like a sow with a litter of suckling pigs.

Barbecue? Bar-B-Q? BBQ? What does it all mean?
The word barbecue is derived from French-speaking pirates, who called a Caribbean pork feast “de barbe ii queue”, which translates “from beard to tail”. In other words, the pig roast reflected the fact that the hog was an eminently versatile animal that could be consumed from head to toe.

Did you know:

  • that the ancient Chinese were so loath to be separated from fresh pork that the departed were sometimes accompanied to the grave with their herd of hogs.
  • that the longest sausage on record is over a mile long? A single sausage measuring 5,917 feet in length was cooked in Barcelona, Spain on September 22, 1986.
  • that when the first hot dogs were sold in 1904, street vendors called them “red hots” and they didn’t come on a bun, but instead a pair of white cotton gloves was given to keep fingers cool while eating.

Porkapalooza image linkDon’t forget! Porkapalooza 2015 is coming up fast on June 19-21st at Borden Park in Edmonton. Tickets are now available for Friday Night Ribfest, the the limited seating Father’s Day Brunch. Visit www.porkapalooza.ca now for more information!

The Language of Pork: Part 1

google-licence-filtered-10774899_b9ebda3770_oHogs are a part of every day life; As a nutritious food source, source of employment, and as a contributor to our language. The venerable pig rarely escapes a day of conversation!

 

Think you know about the hogs on Wall Street? Free-roaming hogs were famous for rampaging through the valuable grain fields of colonial New York City farmers. The Manhattan Island residents chose to block the troublesome hogs with a long, permanent wall on the northern edge of what is now Lower Manhattan. A street came to border this wall — named aptly enough, Wall Street.

To Go Whole Hog – The expression came from the 18th Century when the English shilling was at one time called a “hog”. Thus, a spendthrift one willing to spend an entire shilling on the entertainment of a friend, was willing to “go whole hog”.

Bringing Home the Bacon – It was once the practice at fairs to grease a pig and let it loose among a number of blindfolded contestants. The man who successfully caught the greased pig could keep it…. and so, of course “bring home the bacon.”

Pig in a Poke – A “poke” is a bag – from the Irish word for it, poc. It was once the custom to bring small pigs to market in a bag. And if you bought such a “pig in a poke” without looking at it you didn’t really know what you were getting. Today, we use this term when we buy something sight unseen.

Porkapalooza image linkDon’t forget! Porkapalooza 2015 is coming up fast on June 19-21st at Borden Park in Edmonton. Tickets are now available for Friday Night Ribfest, the the limited seating Father’s Day Brunch. Visit www.porkapalooza.ca now for more information!

The Politics of Pork

Image of t-shirt with bacon swords.

The production and consumption of Pork has been a part of North American Economics throughout our history, but have you thought about the role of pigs in the storied history of economics? These are just a few thoughts on the Politics of Pork!

Where the saying “living high on the hog” came from?
It started among enlisted men in the U.S. Army, who received inexpensive shoulder and leg cuts of pork while the officers received the top loin cuts. So “living high on the hog” came to mean living well.

What’s the origin of the saying “pork barrel” politics?”
The phrase is derived from the American pre-Civil War practice of distributing salt pork to the slaves from huge barrels. In the 1870’s, members of the US congress were referring to regularly dipping into the “pork barrel” to obtaining funds for popular projects in their home districts.

What’s the highest known price ever paid for a hog?
$56,000 was paid for a cross-breed hog named “Bud,” on March 5, 1985.

How “Uncle Sam” came to represent the U.S. Government?
During the war of 1812, a New York pork packer named Uncle Sam Wilson shipped a boatload of several hundred barrels of pork to U.S. troops. Each barrel was stamped “U.S.” on the docks, and it was quickly said that the “U.S.” stood for “Uncle Sam,” whose large shipment seemed to be enough to feed the entire army. This is how the name “Uncle Sam” came to represent the U.S. Government.

What President Truman had to say about hogs?
“No man should be allowed to be President who does not understand hogs.”

Porkapalooza image linkDon’t forget! Porkapalooza 2015 is coming up fast on June 19-21st at Borden Park in Edmonton. Tickets are now available for Friday Night Ribfest, the the limited seating Father’s Day Brunch. Visit www.porkapalooza.ca now for more information!