Wordsmith.org: the magic of words

Wordsmith Talk

About Us | What's New | Search | Site Map | Contact Us  

Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Page 1 of 11 1 2 3 10 11
#50973 12/28/01 10:14 AM
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Why do we say, "Eating high on the hog"? Highest on the hog would be its head, and that's all scrapple to me. And the back isn't as nice as its hams or loin meat. (Many apologies to any vegetarians here.)

So, what's so great about what's high on the hog anyway?

Boar regards,
DubDub


Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
(Many apologies to any vegetarians here.)
Very thoughtful of you, Dear. High on the hog is where the loin chops, the most valuable cuts, come from. Just below the fatback.

You can read about how to slaughter and process a pig here:
http://members.tripod.com/~BayGourmet/pig.txt.
Warning! This is not for the faint-hearted. I've seen hogs killed both on the home farm and commercially, and this article just about made ME sick.




#50975 12/30/01 11:27 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773
Pooh-Bah
Offline
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,773
As Jackie said. In Why You Say It, Webb Garrison says, "But for a real feast, slices [of the hog] must come from high on the hog -- above the center of the animal's leg.


#50976 12/31/01 02:34 PM
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
W
wwh Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
You ain't seen nothin' till you see sausage being made. They have the ground up meat (everything except the squeal) piped to a faucet with a tapered faucet, push one end of a roll of casing onto it, turn the knob, and the casing swells and thrashes about like a monstrous snake. All sorts of fantasies evoked.


#50977 12/31/01 03:27 PM
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
All sorts of fantasies evoked.

I'll bet, wwh, I'll just bet.

DubDoubtless



#50978 12/31/01 05:02 PM
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605
K
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
K
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605
You ain't seen nothin' till you see sausage being made.
As has been said, "Those who love law or sausage should not view too closely the process by which it is made."

everything except the squeal The phrase is used in Upton Sinclair's description of Chicago's meat packing industry (The Jungle, ch. 3: the tour guide says "They use everything about the hog except the squeal"), but I believe Sinclair was using what was already a commonplace description of the industry's efficiency.

Edit: Ch. 14 of The Jungle makes clear that the phrase predates with that book. In The Yankee of the Yards (1927), a biography of Gustavus Swift, it is at called a "hackneyed remark", with conjecture that it originated with a remark by Swift had been heard to make.

Edit #2: The remark does not mean that Chicago meatpackers systematically adulterated food products with unpalatable parts to the animal. Rather, "The enormous volume of animals meant that even body parts that had formerly been wasted now became commercial products: lard, glue, brushes, candles, soaps." A later federal report listed six hundred separate products produced by the pork and beef packers. The industry required such efficient use of the whole animal, for meat-sales alone did not cover costs of production, without the sales of hides and other by-products.

#50979 12/31/01 05:56 PM
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
W
Carpal Tunnel
OP Offline
Carpal Tunnel
W
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Now I wonder what sort of character, upon having just sat through a public reading of The Jungle, would archly intone, "Proscuitto, anyone?"

Veins of ice, I'd say.

Best regards,
WW


#50980 12/31/01 08:30 PM
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
"Those who love law or sausage should not view too closely the process by which it is made."

Believe that was uttered by our old buddy, Otto von Bismarck, aka the Great Unifier of Germany. offered without comment...


A
Anonymous
Unregistered
Anonymous
Unregistered
A
High on the hog is where the loin chops, the most valuable cuts, come from

true, and this may well be the source of part of the idiom, but it also seems likely that the "hog" referred to is the early british colonial coin (bermuda/hog-money/YCLIU), and that living high off of the hog refers to the "high life" resulting from having money to burn? the phrase "whole hog" likely stems from the same source.

and shouldn't this be in animal safari?


#50982 01/01/02 11:21 PM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
M
Carpal Tunnel
Offline
Carpal Tunnel
M
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409

Page 1 of 11 1 2 3 10 11

Moderated by  Jackie 

Link Copied to Clipboard
Forum Statistics
Forums16
Topics13,912
Posts229,283
Members9,179
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
Newest Members
TRIALNERRA, befuddledmind, KILL_YOUR_SUV, Heather_Turey, Standy
9,179 Registered Users
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 302 guests, and 2 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Top Posters(30 Days)
Top Posters
wwh 13,858
Faldage 13,803
Jackie 11,613
tsuwm 10,542
wofahulicodoc 10,510
LukeJavan8 9,916
AnnaStrophic 6,511
Wordwind 6,296
of troy 5,400
Disclaimer: Wordsmith.org is not responsible for views expressed on this site. Use of this forum is at your own risk and liability - you agree to hold Wordsmith.org and its associates harmless as a condition of using it.

Home | Today's Word | Yesterday's Word | Subscribe | FAQ | Archives | Search | Feedback
Wordsmith Talk | Wordsmith Chat

© 1994-2024 Wordsmith

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5