high on the hog
English
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editAn allusion to the best and costliest cuts of meat from a hog, considered to be parts above the belly such as the loin, rather than lower parts such as the feet, knuckles, hocks, belly, and jowls. US, late 1800s;[1] popularized 1940s. The variant forms – live/eat and on/off – are attested since at least the 1930s. However, decades earlier is the phrase on the hog, originally on the hog train meaning someone living on little expense.
Pronunciation
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Adverb
edithigh on the hog (comparative higher on the hog, superlative highest on the hog)
- (idiomatic, US) Well off; living comfortably or extravagantly due to great wealth or financial security.
- Ever since his promotion, they’ve been living high on the hog.
- 1912, George S. Jack, Edward Boyle Jacobs, History of Roanoke County,, page 29:
- With all the tenderloin, spareribs and backbones, we lived “high off the hog”.
- 1927, Allegheny Regional Advisory Board, Proceedings of the regular meeting,, page 21:
- Down our way there is a favorite expression used quite often—“eating high on the hog”. That is what our competitors have been doing…
- 1934, Time, Volume 24, p. 68:
- The synthetic belle wins the prize and her creators are eating high off the hog until the nation’s Press demands a look at the original.
- 2006, Julia Spencer-Fleming, All Mortal Flesh: A Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne Mystery:
- If she was pulling this scam off all that time, I think she'd be living a little higher on the hog, don't you?
Usage notes
edit- Often used in the expressions “living high on the hog” and “eating high on the hog.”
- The opposite, “low on the hog”, is much more rarely used.