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:

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 confidence trick where a farmer would substitute a cat for a suckling pig when bringing it to market. When the buyer discovered the deception, he was said to "let the cat out of the bag", that is, to learn of something unfortunate prematurely, [3] hence the expression "letting the cat out of the bag",[4] meaning to reveal that which is secret.[5] The French idiom acheter (un) chat en poche and the Dutch een kat in de zak kopen and also the German die Katze im Sack kaufen (all: to buy a cat in a bag) refer to an actual scam of this nature, as do many other European equivalents, while the English expression refers to the appearance of the trick.[5] The English idiom "sold a pup" refers to a similar con.[6] Other variations include "buy a fish in water" (Arabic), "buy a cow on another mountain" (Chinese), "buy in a closed box" (Italian) and "buy a cat instead of a hare" (Iberian languages).

In common law, buyers have the right to inspect goods before purchase.[7][8]

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

Look up pig in a poke in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Notes

References

  1. ^ Oxford English Dictionary, 3rd Edition, 2006 s.v. 'pig' P4
  2. ^ Heywood, John (1555). Two hundred Epigrammes, vpon two hundred prouerbes, with a thyrde hundred newly added. Archived from the original on 11 Mar 2021.
  3. ^ Turton, William. "Origines Zoologicæ, or Zoological Recollections". Magazine of Natural History and Journal of Zoology, Botany, Mineralogy, Geology and Meteorology. 7: 326.
  4. ^ Let the cat out of the bag on Theidioms.com
  5. ^ a b Brewer, Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, 1898.
  6. ^ Symons, Mitchell (2 October 2014). There Are Tittles in This Title: The Weird World of Words. pp. 34–35. ISBN 9781782432715.
  7. ^ Gardiner v. Gray, 1815 : no caveat emptor principle applies where there has been no opportunity to inspect goods.
  8. ^ Sale of Goods Act 1979
  9. ^ Oxford English Dictionary, 3rd Edition, s.v.v.
  10. ^ Boulton, James T., ed. (1993). The Letters of D.H. Lawrence. Volume VII: November 1928 – February 1930. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Bibliography

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