Question of the day

[kiya]

Why "stuck pig"?

Is there something particularly bloody about the way pigs bleed when stabbed?

Comments

[aegidian]

Not particularly, but when being slaughtered pigs were stabbed to allow them to bleed out, as the blood can be used in delicacies like Black pudding, hence the expression. See also: "everything except the oink".

[kiya]

... fascinating. I wasn't expecting that anyone would actually know.

Thanks!

[wedgex.livejournal.com]

A .308 rifle round, on the other hand, leaves surprisingly little blood if done right. :D

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

See, I'd also heard "squealing like a stuck pig", so I figured that "bleeding" was just a variation on that one.

[eldriwolf.livejournal.com]

---yah they *squeal* a lot, *Loudly*---unless you do the gun thing--but then the heart is stopped, so you need gravity to get the blood out.
So 'old style' pig sticking was done on the live (struggling-and-protesting-loudly) animal--

--Also, the fat around the neck makes it harder to get a clean bleed---you can't tell as well where to hold the bowl

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

I always thought "stuck pig" related to the sport of pig sticking, ie hunting wild boar/pigs on horseback with a spear. However looking at the explanations of the derivation, perhaps not. (Or perhaps different derivations for US and UK English?)

Also, like xiphias I probably associate the phrase with squealing as much as bleeding.

[lupagreenwolf.livejournal.com]

My thought was "stuck under a fence", not stuck with a knife.