saying "Pig in a poke" meaning and where it originated.?
413706
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.\n\nThe scheme entails a sale of a "suckling pig", in a "poke" (bag), the bag obviously containing a live healthy little pig. The wriggling bag actually contains a cat, not particularly prized as a source of meat, and at any rate, quite unlikely to grow to be a large hog.\n\nThe bag which ostensibly contains a baby pig is sold to the victim, without opening it.\n\nA common colloquial expression in the English language, meaning "to allow oneself to be easily conned", or "one gets what they pay for" is to "buy a pig in a poke". Similar expressions exist in other languages, e.g. in German "die Katze im Sack kaufen" or Dutch "een kat in de zak kopen" (lit.: to buy the cat in a bag).\n\nThis 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.\n\nThe phrase let the cat out of the bag is also referenced to the English Navy practice of flogging with the "Cat" of nine tails. To let the cat out of the bag meaning to reveal a crewman's indiscretion that will result in a flogging with the "cat" (of nine tails)
770710
The acronym story is a complete fabrication from the middle of the 20th century.  It is completely false.\n\nThe word is the English cognate of the Proto-Germanic word *fukan 'have intercourse' which has its ultimate origin in Proto-Indo-European *pug- 'to strike' (compare English pugilist from Latin).  The English word f*ck derived according to regular sound laws from the Proto-Germanic form and there are cognate forms in most of the other Germanic languages.  It has moved in and out of vulgarity during its long reign in the Germanic languages.  In some time periods it was simply the normal term for breeding animals.  In Modern English it is moving out of being considered quite so vulgar since it is used so commonly.
1016570
We usually know what an idiom means, but the interesting thing is to find out why it means what it means.  For example, do you know where "frog in your throat" came from?   Medieval physicians believed that the secretions of a frog could cure a cough if they were coated on the throat of the patient. The frog was placed in the mouth of the sufferer and remained there until the physician decided that the treatment was complete.   Yuck!!\n\nThese sites give the origins of hundreds of idioms.
1166008
The question is, does anybody really know what PIG stands for?\nP= Pride\nI =Integrity\nG= Guts\nand half the people in the world dont have any when it comes to trying to control stupid people, so what if we like donuts, its free, due to alot of stores and donut shops want us to protect them from a robbery or anything else that could happen.
598693
I think any slang expessions relating to the Old West or cowboys would be unique to the United States, so here goes:\n"Dadgummit! Dagnabbit!" - darn it, confound it all (teenagers don't use these, but they come up in movies or plays about the Old West all the time)\n"up a creek without a paddle" - in this case, it means you are stuck in a bad situation without a way to get out of it, and you pronounce "creek" as "crick" - this is still used once in a while in the Western United States at least\n"Cut him some slack." - Meaning that you need to give someone a breather, or stop being so hard on him. I believe that is related to cowboys roping cattle or wild horses, and if the lariat is too tight it will constrict the throats of or strangle the livestock.\nAlso phrases that relate to American fast food may or may not be used in Britain. For example, "he's three fries short of a Happy Meal" means the guy is not operating with a fully functioning brain, which is a mild insult.
195641
The idiom is apparently derived from a centuries-old Scottish proverb, though some other references to pigs flying or pigs with wings are more famous. Here is one such reference from Lewis Carroll:\n\n"Thinking again?" the Duchess asked, with another dig of her sharp little chin.\n"I've a right to think," said Alice sharply, for she was beginning to feel a little worried.\n"Just about as much right," said the Duchess, "as pigs have to fly...." — Alice in Wonderland, chapter 9.
726125
Well it does come from the song Yankee Doodle Dandy but the question is where does Yankee come from. You Yanks called us Limeys and that is because our sailors used to eat limes to protect against scurvy on their long sea voyages.\nBTW the Cockney (London Dialect) for a Yank is a  "Septic" from "Septic Tank" which in true Cockney rhyming slang  form the "Tank" rhymes with Yank but the first un-rhyming part is used, Apple and Pears meanind Stairs becomes Apples, Currant Bun meaning Sun becomes Currant,Frog and Toad meaning  Road becomes Frog.\nSo 'the Septic went up the Apples and had a Lemon' translates to 'the Septic Tank went up the Apple and Pears to have a Lemon Squash' i.e. 'the Yank went up the stairs and had a wash!'. Whole conversations can be had using Cockney rhyming slang!!\nGuess it doesn't answer your question but goes to show how bizarre our language is!
745295
I believe it is from the use of rhyming to emphasise something being great! As in "the bees knees". This then became "the mutt's nuts", which translated into non-rhyming is "the dog's bollocks". WHY? I don't know.
468482
This phrase stems from a kissing booth at a carnival that was held in Podunk, Iowa.  It turns out that the young lady that was going to occupy the booth was thrown from the animal that she was riding on the way to said boot and injured her mouth so they decided to use the animal that she was riding, her Jackass.  So for a buck you could kiss to her jackass, or as she would say “kiss my jackass”, and over time it was shorten too, well you know.
896971
The word "piggyback," as in, "Honey, it's my turn to get a piggyback tonight," derives from the terms "pickpack," "pickback," and even "pick-a-pack," all used in the 17th century to indicate the act of hoisting something onto someone's back for carrying. According to the Random House Word of the Day, most etymologists assume "pick" is a variant of the verb "to pitch," meaning "to throw." "Pack" refers to items meant for carrying.\n\nBut how did the piggy grunt its way into the mix? Did giant domesticated hogs, back in the day, do the work of packhorses? No, what we have here, apparently, is a failure to communicate: a textbook case of folk etymology, in which a word is modified to something more common or easily understood when the original term has become obsolete, and thus devoid of meaning. Some examples of folk etymology at work, according to Wikipedia, are the evolving of the words "shamefast" into "shamefaced," "buttonhole into "buttonhold," and "sweetard" into "sweatheart." (But there's no truth to the rumor that Ask Yahoo! used to be called "Axe Yahoos," back in the dot-com downturn days.)
651087
"The OED cites an 1811 reference to a "pig" as a Bow Street Runner--the early police force, named after the location of their headquarters, before Sir Robert Peel and the Metropolitan Police Force (see above.) Before that, the term "pig" had been used as early as the mid-1500s to refer to a person who is heartily disliked."\n\n2nd link shows the Cleveland Police Seal, looking suspicously porcine...
20928
"Love", from French "l'ouef" = "the egg", from the shape looking like zero.\nOr, according to the article linked below, "to play for love", i.e. just for fun.
292922
not so sure of the origin and history behind the phrase but if you find it ranining cat's and dogs be careful not to step in a poodle... i looked it up for you and yu can find the answer at the link below
767708
That sounds vaguely Finnish; it looks like heavy dialect from around Tornio or somewhere near (North-Western part of Finland I would guess; could also be from more south, but definitely somewhere west). If I try to make some sort of literal translation:\n\n"Ei oo kyl" means "it isn't" or "this isn't", though in dialect. "raponen" is a word used only in very few Finnish dialects (this is why I guess this is from around Tornio), a more common Finnish word meaning the same would be "häävi", meaning "ok" or "quite good". So "Ei oo kyl raponen" would mean "It (or this) isn't too good".\n\n"Myyräki kurkkii" would literally mean "Also the mole is peeking", but as this is also heavy dialect, the actual meaning is something like "And I (or you/he/she/it, not defined in that expression) also need(s) to take a dump"\n\n"Vai mikä vitun tappi liene" would mean something like "Or whatever pin/cone/stick that is", powered up with the f-word.\n\nSo basically this could be a rude comment from someone who is looking at someones behind (backside, buttocks, or whatever expression you find suitable), meaning "That's not too good looking, also there's some kind of weird stick pointing out, I wonder if he/she needs to go to bathroom and fast..."\n\nI hope you're not offended, I only translated it.
120738
I believe it originated around gangsters of the 20s who wanted a word to act tough with when asking for money such as "Gimme yer dough!!" or "Frankie, don't forget the dough or Patty will be mad" It was just the slang of the time, but sort of lingered till present day
578919
Everyone is wrong except the guy who said it was from Anglo-Saxon.  "F..k" has a long pedigree in the Germanic languages.  It was found in Proto-Germanic about 2500 years ago as the verb *fukan 'have intercourse'.  This was not vulgar at that time and was a euphemism for some older word.  Ultimately, it comes from Proto-Indo-European *pug- "to strike", from which we get the borrowed Latin form pugilism 'boxing'.
72408
It means that you cannot resist the urge to make some dryly humorous or mildly clever play on words or concepts that are already part of the conversation.  For example, if we are discussing why your dog seems to often bite himself on the left rear haunch, in the context of giving you a fairly informative and sincere answer, I may make the following statements:  "Pardon the pun, but you know it's a dog-eat-dog world."\n\nBy the way, as an aside, I think this would certainly be a better community if we all stuck to the topics at hand and didn't use this as a platform to insult complete strangers.  Ramon, I apologize for the attack you've experienced here.