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May 14, 2026
This week’s themeWhose what? This week’s words patriarch's age rake's progress pig's whisper
An illustration from the book The Tale of Pigling Bland, 1913
Art: Beatrix Potter Wordsmith Games
A.Word.A.Day
with Anu Gargpig’s whisper
PRONUNCIATION:
MEANING:
noun: 1. A very short time. 2. A low or nearly inaudible whisper. ETYMOLOGY:
Of uncertain origin. Earliest documented use: 1780.
NOTES:
It’s not clear how a pig’s whisper came to be associated with a very
short time or a whisper. A pig is not known for whispering, though a grunt
can be brief enough. A variant of today’s term is a pig’s whisker.
USAGE:
“For if your love knew you loved him in perpetuum, he would return
and return in a pig’s whisper.” Chanelle Benz; The Man Who Shot Out My Eye Is Dead; Ecco; 2017. “I heard Ata informing Mummy, in a pig’s whisper, that plagiarism, too, was actionable.” Hindu (Chennai, India); Jan 21, 2001. A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
Knowing trees, I understand the meaning of patience. Knowing grass, I can
appreciate persistence. -Hal Borland, author and journalist (14 May
1900-1978)
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