Hoover hog
English edit
Etymology edit
Herbert Hoover + hog, because impoverished people were reduced to (and Hoover himself may have suggested) eating such animals during the Great Depression which Hoover presided over the start of.[1][2]
Noun edit
Hoover hog (plural Hoover hogs)
- (US, especially Southern US) An animal which is eaten by poor people during hard times, especially an armadillo or jackrabbit, but also a possum or squirrel.
- 1971, Richard Brandon Morris, William Greenleaf, Robert H. Ferrell, America: a History of the People:
- Sometimes living on rabbits and squirrels , they described their fare as Hoover hogs. The President's rigid stand on the relief issue widened the gap between the Old Guard and the insurgents in the Republican party, and his differences with ...
- 1984, National Geographic:
- [It] rises . . . a jackrabbit. A Hoover hog, long-eared, light in the front legs, strong in the rear. The jack stretches his heels and takes the hill in a few bounds. When last seen, he is heading east.
- 1993, The Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings Journal of Florida Literature:
- "Some folks are lonesome all their life and some are hungry . We ain't ever needed to eat a Hoover hog (an opossum) since we come to the Creek.” With humor , Bernie lamented that the only thing missing in his life was a new pickup truck.
- 2003, James David Landis, The Taking:
- "It's a Hoover hog!" "Give it here," said Simeon Vear. Jimmy started to pick up the entire trap." Just the animal." Jimmy pushed his hand into the trap. "Don't," I said. "Let him," said Simeon Vear. "Got him," said Jimmy. He pulled the nervous rabbit […]
- 2007, Ken Hodgson, The Man Who Killed Shakespeare, ME: Five Star, →ISBN:
- “[You don't have] to eat anything I fix again if you don't want to,” Jason McTavish spat. “I was surprised as everyone when Howard choked. That steak wasn't tougher than normal — for antelope.” “ If you'd stewed up a Hoover hog instead of that stringy […] ”
- 2010, Carroll Osburn, The Edge of the Wedge: Recollections of a Reluctant Prodigal, AuthorHouse, →ISBN, page 23:
- Aunt Cora, Mom's sister, always seemed to have rabbits or squirrels—Hoover hogs, she called them—or a greasy ole' barbecued raccoon for supper.
- 2013, W. Jeff Bishop, A Cold Coming, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 215:
- “We'e gonna catch us a Hoover Hog, s'first thing,” said Carl. “A Hoover Hog? What's a Hoover Hog?” “You ain't never heard of a Hoover Hog? You'll see,” said Carl. They trudged along, keeping the conversation to a minimum, […]
See also edit
References edit
- ^ Robert Allen Palmatier, Speaking of Animals: A Dictionary of Animal Metaphors, Greenwood Publishing Group (1995, →ISBN), page 199: HOOVER HOG a Hoover hog. An armadillo. EWPO: 1930s. [...] In the Great Depression, during the first part of which Herbert Hoover was President, hungry residents of the Gulf Coast, esp. in Florida and Texas, began" [to resort to armadillos].
- ^ Joseph Chamberlain Furnas, Stormy Weather: Crosslights on the Nineteen Thirties : an Informal Social History of the United States 1929-1941 (Putnam Publishing Group, 1977): Texas [...] derived “Hoover hog” from Hoover's having allegedly advised Texans to eat armadillos as emergency ration in the Depression. Local inquiry leads me to believe that Hoover didn't even know […]