subs. (old).—1. A shilling: also a sixpence: and (in America) a ten-cent piece. For synonyms, see BLOW. HALF-A-HOG = sixpence, or five-cent piece.
1688. SHADWELL, The Squire of Alsatia, s.v. HOG, a shilling.
c. 1696. B. E., A New Dictionary of the Canting Crew, s.v. HOG, You Darkman Budge, will you Fence your HOG at the next Boozing ken?
1714. Memoirs of John Hall (4 ed.), p. 12, s.v.
1725. A New Canting Dictionary, s.v. Half a HOG, Six-Pence.
1809–12. EDGEWORTH, Ennui, ch. vi. ‘It’s only a tester or a HOG they want your honour to give ’em, to drink your honour’s health,’ said Paddy. ‘A HOG to drink my health?’ ‘Ay, that is a thirteen, plase your honour; all as one as an English shilling.’
1825. P. EGAN, The Life of an Actor, ch. iv. You shall have … eighteen HOG a week, and a benefit which never fails.
1842. THACKERAY, Cox’s Diary, in The Comic Almanack, p. 237. Do you think I’m a-going to kill my horses, and break my precious back, and bust my carriage, and carry you, and your kids, and your traps, for six HOG?
1851–61. H. MAYHEW, London Labour and the London Poor, vol. i., p. 529. The slang phrases are constantly used by the street lads; thus a sixpence is a ‘tanner’; a shilling a ‘bob,’ or a HOG.… The collections of coin dealers amply show, that the figure of a hog was anciently placed on a small silver coin.
1857. A. J. MATHEWS, Tea-Table Talk, ii., p. 207. The woman satisfied him, after her fashion, that his little lump of Suett had absorbed flour and lard to the amount of what her queer customer would have termed ‘a HOG.’
1859. G. W. MATSELL, Vocabulum; or, The Rogue’s Lexicon, s.v. HOG. A ten-cent piece.
2. (colloquial).—A foul-mouthed blackguard; a dirty feeder. Also, a common glutton.
1598. FLORIO, A Worlde of Wordes, s.v. Ciro, a HOGGE, a swine, a filthie fellowe.
1892. MILLIKEN, ’Arry Ballads, p. 69. ’Arry’s a HOG when he feeds.
3. (Cambridge University: obsolete).—A student of St. John’s. Also, JOHNIAN HOG. See CRACKLE, BRIDGE OF GRUNTS, and ISTHMUS OF SUEZ.
1690. The Diary of Abraham de la Pryme (Surtees Society, No. 54, p. 20), quoted in Notes and Queries, 6, S. xi., 328. For us Jonians are called abusively HOGGS.
1795. Gentleman’s Magazine, lxv., 22. The JOHNIAN HOGS were originally remarkable on account of the squalid figures and low habits of the students, and especially of the sizars of Saint John’s College. [Another story of how name originated is given in detail in Gentleman’s Magazine (1795), lxv., 107.]
1889. C. WHIBLEY, ed. In Cap and Gown, p. 28. An obsolete name for members of St. John’s College, Cambridge.
4. (old Scots’).—A yearling sheep.
1796. BURNS, Poems.
| What will I do gin my HOGGIE die, | |
| My joy, my pride, my HOGGIE. |
5. (American).—An inhabitant of Chicago. [That city being a notable pig-breeding and pork-packing centre.]
6. (old).—A Hampshireman.
1770. LORD HAILES, Ancient Scottish Poems, ‘Dance of the Seven Deadly Sins.’ Note on line 115. And thus his ill-bred raillery will be like that of Essex calves, HAMPSHIRE HOGS, Middlesex mongrels, Norfolk dumplings, Welsh goats, etc.
Verb (American).—1. To cheat; to humbug; TO GAMMON (q.v.).
1864. C. F. BROWNE (‘Artemus Ward’), Among the Mormons, ii., 10. Go my son, and HOG the public!
3. (stables).—To cut short; e.g., to HOG a horse’s mane.
A HOG IN ARMOUR, subs. phr. (old).—A lout in fine clothes. Also a JACK-IN-OFFICE; HOG-IN-TOGS = (in America) a well-dressed loafer. [HOG = HODGE (q.v.), a rustic.]
1785. GROSE, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v. HOG. … an awkward, or mean looking man or woman, finely dressed, is said to look like a HOG IN ARMOUR.
HOG AND HOMINY, subs. phr. (American).—Plain fare; COMMON DOINGS (q.v.). [Pork and maize are the two cheapest food stuffs in the U.S.A.]
TO GO THE WHOLE HOG. See WHOLE ANIMAL.
TO BRING ONE’S HOGS (or PIGS) TO A FINE MARKET, verb. phr. (old).—To do well; to make a good DEAL (q.v.). Also, in sarcasm, the opposite.
c. 1696. B. E., A New Dictionary of the Canting Crew, s.v. HE HAS BROUGHT HIS HOGGS TO A FAIR MARKET, or he has Spun a fair Thread.
1785. GROSE, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v. HOG. … HE HAS BROUGHT HIS HOGS TO A FINE MARKET; a saying of one who has been remarkably successful in his affairs, and is spoken ironically to signify the contrary.
TO DRIVE ONE’S HOGS (or PIGS) TO MARKET, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To snore.
1738. SWIFT, Polite Conversation, ii., 455. I’gad he fell asleep, and snored so loud that we thought he was DRIVING HIS HOGS TO MARKET.
1785. GROSE, A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, s.v. HOG. … TO DRIVE ONE’S HOGS; to snore: the noise made by some persons in snoring being not much unlike the notes of that animal.
