1. Pig out (on something) – to eat too much of something at one time.
2. Eat like a pig – to eat a lot; to have a big appetite.
3. Make a pig of yourself – to eat a lot in a greedy or unpleasant way.
4. (A place) is a pigsty – a place is very dirty.
5. (be like) a greased pig – to move very fast and be difficult to catch.
6. Lipstick on a pig – to make a superficial (outside appearance) change but not make any meaningful changes. This is used for things that were not good before a change to the appearance and are still not good after.
7. When pigs (can) fly – used to describe something that is very unlikely or will never happen.
8. Happy as a pig in mud – slang – very happy
9. Sweat like a pig – to sweat a lot
10. Guinea pig – if someone is used to test something or used in an experiment they are a guinea pig.
More details and natural examples are below!
In this post, you will learn 10 English Idioms with PIG.
In the Chinese zodiac, 2019 was the year of the pig. Do you know what zodiac means?
zodiac – the imaginary area in the sky in which the sun, moon and planets appear to lie, and which has been divided into twelve equal parts, each with a special name and symbol
Definition from https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/zodiac?q=zodiac
According to Wikipedia, the Chinese animal zodiac is used:
in many Asian countries including China, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Mongolia, Cambodia, Laos, Nepal, Bhutan, and Thailand.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_zodiac
Zodiac image By Jakub Hałun – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=64844306
In Japan, the animal of 2019 was 猪 (Inoshishi) which is an animal in the pig family, but it is wild. We call it a “wild boar” in English and it lives in the forest, not on a farm.
Wild boars have tusks.
tusks – long, curved teeth that stick out of the mouth of elephants and some other animals [link]
In Japan you might see New Year’s cards with images like this:
Pigs on a farm do not have tusks.
What is a pig?
A pig is an animal with pink, black, or brown skin, short legs, a broad nose, and a short curly tail. Pigs are kept on farms for their meat (called pork) or live in the wild [LINK]
Baby pigs are called piglets.
When we think of pigs in the west we think about farm animals that we eat. They are usually thought of as dirty animals who eat a lot! A few of the idioms that use pig are about eating or being dirty.
The word PIG by itself
In English, the word pig can be used in a few ways. You can call someone who eats too much a pig.
“Hey save some cake for everyone! Don’t be a pig!”
Pig is also used for the police.
“Time to go, the pigs are on their way.”
Idioms with PIG – List of 10
There are many online lists of idioms that use the word pig. Some of these idioms I have seen in movies or on TV, some I have heard in conversation as I grew up and some I have used myself!
The problem is that some of them are not common at all. I should say ‘Not common to me,’ but remember I am a native English speaker who grew up in Canada. My list only includes idioms that are familiar to me and I hear native speakers actually use.
There may be idioms on other websites that are common in England or Australia or even some common idioms that I haven’t heard before. For this list, I have just included the idioms that are the most familiar to me, idioms that I am confident to use in natural conversation.
Here are 10 idioms with the word PIG as chosen by me!
90% of these Pig idioms are from https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/pig (But the example sentences are from me.)
You can find links to the Free Dictionary dot com idiom pages below.
1. Pig out (on something) – to eat too much of something at one time.
“After Halloween, my brother and I always pigged out on our candy.”
*Note: Pig out is used as a phrasal verb. Pigged out is the past tense in our example.
Learn more common English phrasal verbs at my blog post – These 50 Phrasal Verbs will help you sound like a native (free PDF)
2. Eat like a pig – to eat a lot; to have a big appetite.
“Dave is coming to dinner so you better make lots of food. He eats like a pig!”
3. Make a pig of yourself – to eat a lot in a greedy or unpleasant way.
“We have guests coming over tonight so don’t make a pig of yourself at dinner.”
* These 3 idioms all have a similar meaning but please notice they are used differently.
– we pig out on something and this is often used to describe our own behavior.
– to say that someone eats like a pig is not as strong or negative as to say someone made a pig of themselves. The 3rd example above “We have guests coming over tonight so don’t make a pig of yourself at dinner.” has a very negative feeling.
4. (A place) is a pigsty – a place is very dirty.
“Greg you need to clean your apartment, it’s a pigsty!”
5. (be like) a greased pig – to move very fast and be difficult to catch.
“I spent 40 minutes trying to catch my dog after he got out of our backyard. It was like trying to catch a greased pig.”
6. lipstick on a pig – to make a superficial (outside appearance) change but not make any meaningful changes. This is used for things that were not good before a change to the appearance and are still not good after.
A: “They improved the interior of the restaurant, but the food is still bad and the staff are not friendly.”
B: “You can put lipstick on a pig but it’s still a pig.”
7. when pigs (can) fly – used to describe something that is very unlikely or will never happen.
A: “Do you think I will get a chance to take Angelina Jolie on a date?”
B: “Sure, when pigs fly!”
8. Happy as a pig in mud – slang – very happy
“Javier loves comic books. He was happy as a pig in mud at the San Diego comic convention last year.”
9. Sweat like a pig – to sweat a lot
“I love Tokyo but the summer is so humid. I sweat like a pig for the whole month of August.”
10. guinea pig – if someone is used to test something or used in an experiment they are a guinea pig.
A: “Try this salsa I just made. I used some new ingredients this time.”
B: “Okay, I’ll be your guinea pig.”
*To hear guinea pronunciation click – here
| Looking for more great animal idioms? Try these other awesome posts on my blog! |
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| 18 Idioms With RABBIT (Real Examples, Sound Like A Native) |
| 7 Idioms with TIGER (FUN infographic too) |
| 10 Common Idioms with Rats and Mice (Real example sentences) |
Watch the video to review the grammar and improve your English listening skills
Thanks for reading! Are these idioms useful for you?
Which one will you use first? Tell me below in the comments↓
Free Dictionary dot com idiom links:
- pig out
- eat like a pig
- make a pig of oneself
- (be like) a greased pig
- put lipstick on a pig
- when pigs (can) fly
- happy as a pig in sh*t
- sweat like a pig
- guinea pig
Check out these other great Idiom posts
- 14 Idioms with EGG (Learn Fast with Real Example Sentences)
- 21 Common Idioms with JUMP (Start using them today!)
- 21 Idioms with HEALTH and WELLNESS (Real Examples)
- 18 Idioms With RABBIT (Real Examples, Sound Like A Native)
- 74 Idioms and Phrasal Verbs with OFF (With Real Examples)
- 23 Common English Idioms about LOVE (Free PDF download)
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