10 Idioms with PIG (2019 - the year of the PIG)

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 and still not good after changes to the appearance.

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 below!

World English blog and World English Blog would like to wish you all a happy and healthy NEW YEAR! In this post, you will learn 10 English Idioms with PIG.

In the Chinese zodiac, 2019 is the year of the pig. Do you know what zodiac means?

ZODIAC

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

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.

In Japan, the animal of 2019 is 猪 (Inoshishi) which is an animal in the pig family but it is wild. It lives in the forest, not on a farm. It often has tusks. In Japan you might see New Year’s cards with images like this:

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

You can find links to the Free Dictionary dot com idiom pages below.

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 there way.”

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.”

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 your 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 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 and still not good after changes to the appearance.

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!”