pork or pigs

The ancient Chinese were so reluctant to be separated from fresh pork that the departed were often buried with their entire herd of hogs. • Wild hogs are strong and fierce and live in forests and jungles in many parts of the world. Razorbacks (wild hogs with sharp, narrow backs) live in the Southeastern U.S. and the West Indies. • During the War of 1812, a New York pork packer named Uncle Sam Wilson shipped a boatload of several hundred barrels of pork to U.S. troops. Each barrel was stamped "U.S." on the docks. The "U.S." stood for "Uncle Sam" whose shipment seemed large enough to feed the entire army. This is how "Uncle Sam" came to represent the U.S. Government. • In some areas hogs would roam freely, eating what they could find – acorns from the ground or roots which they dug from the ground with their snouts. In Manhattan, New York City, hogs ravaged grain fields until farmers were forced to build a wall to keep them out. The street running along this wall became Wall Street. • Some pigs are trained to root for truffles, a delicacy that grows underground in temperate forests in Europe and North America. Caution: Don't let Porky off the leash - pigs love eating truffles. • The saying "living high on the hog" started among enlisted men in the U.S. Army who received shoulder and leg cuts of pork while officers received the top loin cuts. “Living high on the hog" came to mean living well. • Have you ever heard the saying, "Don’t buy a pig in a poke?" In 17th century England, it was a common trick to try to give away a cat to an unsuspecting shopper buying a suckling (young) pig. When he opened the poke (sack), he "let the cat out of the bag See all 4 photosIf it's good for pigs it's good for the country! • The phrase "pork barrel" politics" is derived from the pre-Civil War practice of distributing salt pork to the slaves from huge barrels. By the 1870s, congressmen were referring to regularly dipping into the "pork barrel" for obtaining funds for popular projects in their home districts. None of this goes on today, of course. That’s a joke, son.