Color Your World: 120 Days of Crayola; Piggy Pink
A Cottage Garden in Warninglid, UK
I looked through a good many of my pictures, but alas, no pig to be found! So no pig in a poke! Where did that phrase come from?
A poke is a sack or bag. It has a French origin as “poque” and, like several other French words, its diminutive is formed by adding “ette” or “et”—hence “pocket” meaning “small bag”. Poke is still in use in several English-speaking places, including Scotland and some regions of the USA. For example among English hop growers, a poke is a large sack into which hops are poured to be taken from the picking machine to the oast for drying. Now remember my pictures of an oast? Here is one in case you forgot. If you would like to learn more about Oasts, I wrote a post (look HERE) during my English Garden Tour!
The Oast at Bateman’s, Home of Rudyard Kipling
In the middle ages, “the pig in a poke” scheme entailed the sale of a suckling pig in a poke. The bag, sold unopened, would actually contain a cat or dog! The French idiom acheter (un) chat en poche (to buy a cat in a bag) refers to an actual sale of this nature. Translation: Don’t buy anything that you haven’t looked over carefully first! Well I looked over all my pictures carefully! No pig, but I do have a photo of a lovely English garden in Warningild with beautiful pink roses!
Pig Pink, also known as Piggy Pink, was added to the Crayola collection in 1998.
This post is just one of many in the Color Your World: 120 Days of Crayola Challenge! Enjoy!
The Travel Lady In Her Shoes 
7 Responses to “Color Your World: 120 Days of Crayola; Piggy Pink”
That was really interesting. I didn’t know that about poke or pocket, or it I did I had forgotten! Lovely photo too , a typical English cottage.
This is a fascinating post about language (and I love those roses!).
Once again, a most palatable dose of education! Oasts, pokes, poque, pochette, pig-in-a-poke– I think you’ve “let the cat out of the bag”! 🙂 Lovely pictures.
Great one Hildegard! Parlez vous francais? Have I asked you that before?
En peu. Malheureusement, j’ai oublie beaucoup plus que je m’en souviens du francais appris a l’ecole etc. aux anciens temps. Have I embarrassed myself yet? 🙂
Hilldegard, Tu parle bien le francais! I am a beginner, but I practice everyday with Duolingo!
Merci – on essaie. Good for you, learning on Duolingo! I know a few people around here who are really into that program; apparently, it can become addictive. 🙂 Enjoy!