Pig in a poke
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Pig-in-a-poke refers to a scam originating in the Late Middle Ages, when meat was scarce, but apparently rats and cats were not.
The scheme entailed the sale of a "suckling pig", in a "poke" (bag). The wriggling bag actually contained a cat, not particularly prized as a source of meat, which was then sold unopened to the victim.
A common colloquial expression in the English language, to "buy a pig in a poke" is to make a risky purchase without inspecting an item beforehand. The phrase can also be applied to accepting an idea or plan without a full understanding of its basis. Similar expressions exist in other languages, e.g. in:
- German die Katze im Sack kaufen
- Dutch een kat in de zak kopen
- Icelandic að kaupa köttinn í sekknum
- Lithuanian nusipirkti katę maiše
- Polish kupić kota w worku
- Spanish dar gato por liebre
- Hebrew חתול בשק
- Portuguese comer gato por lebre
- French acheter chat en poche
- Norwegian kjøpe katta i sekken
- Slovene kupiti mačka v žaklju
- Greek αγοράζω γουρούνι στο σακί
- Finnish ostaa sika säkissä
—most of them meaning to buy a cat in a bag. In Spanish, to Give a cat instead of a hare In Romanian, being caught with the cat in the bag (a fi prins cu mâṭa în sac) means being caught while undergoing a scam or lying. In Greek, the phrase is similar to the English one, "Buying a pig in a bag (poke)".
This is also the origin of the expressions: "Let the cat out of the bag" meaning 'to reveal that which is secret', and "left holding the bag" meaning 'to find oneself with nothing for their efforts', as the cat is quite likely to flee when the bag is opened.
"Pig in a Poke" is a fictional game show in the 1985 comedy film National Lampoon's European Vacation (which was based on Family Feud, but had the families wear pig costumes).
[edit] See also
[edit] References
Funk, Charles Earle. (2002). A Hog on Ice: & Other Curious Expressions. HarperResource. ISBN 0-06-051329-2
