Strange Names & Phrases from Long Ago

[imp]

As a kind, my Grandma and her 2nd. husband each summer greatly enjoyed a week or two up north, out of Chicago, at the Great Lakes. One such stay was at a place named "Pathi's Pavilion". The owner was a man nicknamed "Dutch".

My Dad and I were standing along the shoreline when a man came along, obviously a guest there, and he conversed with my Dad. I was about 7 or 8, and overheard him say, "You know, this guy Dutch has a blind pig!"

I could not fathom at all why possessing a blind pig could provoke such emphasis. Later, my Dad, upon being asked, explained that the term meant Dutch was selling liquor illegally. Having lived through Prohibition, my Dad was familiar with the term.

Know any similar unusual ones? imp

 

[NancyNGA]

Interesting Imp. There are two local bar/restaurants here called Blind Pig Tavern. It's a franchise. Now I know where that name came from.

 

[SeaBreeze]

I've heard the expression "pig in a poke" years ago, not too much today, never used it myself or was really sure what it meant.

An object offered in a manner that conceals its true value, especially its lackof value. For example, Eric believes that buying a used car is buying a pig in a poke .

This expression alludes to the practice of substituting a worthless object, such as a cat, for the costly suckling pig a customer has bought and wrapping it in a poke , or sack.

It dates from a time when buyers ofgroceries relied on a weekly farmers' market and, unless they were cautious enough to check the poke's contents, would not discover the skullduggery until they got home. The word poke dates from the 13th century but is now used mainly in the southern United States.

 

[Ken N Tx]

[h=1]Speakeasy "blind pig" and "blind tiger" origin[/h]
CLICK HERE

 

[Pappy]

The term, "stuff a sock in it" comes from the old days when the record players, the ones with a big horn thing for volume, had no volume control so one would stuff a stocking or sock in it to tone down the volume. Aren't you glad you asked, imp?

 

[imp]

The term, "stuff a sock in it" comes from the old days when the record players, the ones with a big horn thing for volume, had no volume control so one would stuff a stocking or sock in it to tone down the volume. Aren't you glad you asked, imp?

Well, it reminds me of a line I recall from "To Sir With Love" in which one of the young hoodlums mutters, "Get stuffed".

I gathered back then it was a Brit phrase equally vile as our typical "F" word, but never thought about stuffing a horn or megaphone! imp