Pig in a poke
A pig in a poke is a thing that is bought without first being inspected, and thus of unknown authenticity or quality.[1] The idiom is attested in 1555:
I wyll neuer bye the pyg in the poke |
I will never buy the pig in the poke |
A "poke" is a sack, so the image is of a concealed item being sold.
Starting in the 19th century, this idiom was explained as a
In
Etymology
A poke is a sack or bag, from French poque, which is also the etymon of "pocket", "pouch", and "poach".[9] Poke is still in regional use. Pigs were formerly brought to market for sale in a cloth bag, a poke.
Use in popular culture
In the April 1929 edition of the literary magazine The London Aphrodite, a story by Rhys Davies, titled "A Pig in a Poke", was published, in which a Welsh coal miner takes a woman from London for his wife and regrets it.[10]
In the 1985 film National Lampoon's European Vacation, the Griswold family wins the vacation on a game show called "Pig in a Poke".
See also
- Cultural references to pigs
- Green goods scam
- Lipstick on a pig
- Impulse purchase
Notes
References
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary, 3rd Edition, 2006 s.v. 'pig' P4
- ^ Heywood, John (1555). Two hundred Epigrammes, vpon two hundred prouerbes, with a thyrde hundred newly added. Archived from the original on 11 Mar 2021.
- ^ Turton, William. "Origines Zoologicæ, or Zoological Recollections". Magazine of Natural History and Journal of Zoology, Botany, Mineralogy, Geology and Meteorology. 7: 326.
- ^ Let the cat out of the bag on Theidioms.com
- ^ a b Brewer, Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1898.
- ISBN 9781782432715.
- ^ Gardiner v. Gray, 1815 : no caveat emptor principle applies where there has been no opportunity to inspect goods.
- ^ Sale of Goods Act 1979
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary, 3rd Edition, s.v.v.
- ^ Boulton, James T., ed. (1993). The Letters of D.H. Lawrence. Volume VII: November 1928 – February 1930. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bibliography
- E. Cobham Brewer, Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
- ISBN 0-06-051329-2.