Tuesday 25 August 2009

Word of the Week: Cold Pig

To give cold pig is a punishment inflicted on sluggards who lie too long in bed: it consists in pulling off all the bed clothes from them, and throwing cold water upon them.

From: Captain Grose's 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue


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2 comments:

The Dreamstress said...

That's a pretty severe punishment for all concerned when you consider how long it would have taken the mattress to dry!

Mrs Woffington said...

I seem to remember David Garrick complaining of a cold which he got through lying in damp sheets at Dunstable. So maybe it was quite commmon practice!