"high on the hog" meaning in English

See high on the hog in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adverb

Audio: en-au-high on the hog.ogg [Australia] Forms: higher on the hog [comparative], highest on the hog [superlative]
Etymology: An allusion to the best and costliest cuts of meat from a hog, considered to be parts above the belly such as the loin, rather than lower parts such as the feet, knuckles, hocks, belly, and jowls. US, late 1800s; popularized 1940s. The variant forms – live/eat and on/off – are attested since at least the 1930s. However decades earlier is the phrase on the hog, originally on the hog train meaning someone living on little expense. Etymology templates: {{m|en|on the hog}} on the hog, {{m|en|on the hog train}} on the hog train Head templates: {{en-adv|higher on the hog|sup=highest on the hog}} high on the hog (comparative higher on the hog, superlative highest on the hog)
  1. (idiomatic, US) Well off; living comfortably or extravagantly due to great wealth or financial security. Tags: US, idiomatic Categories (topical): Wealth Synonyms: high off the hog Related terms: dire straits, high life, live large, well to do
    Sense id: en-high_on_the_hog-en-adv-7yDe9V-W Categories (other): American English, English entries with incorrect language header

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for high on the hog meaning in English (3.4kB)

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  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "on the hog"
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      "expansion": "on the hog",
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    },
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        "1": "en",
        "2": "on the hog train"
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      "expansion": "on the hog train",
      "name": "m"
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  "etymology_text": "An allusion to the best and costliest cuts of meat from a hog, considered to be parts above the belly such as the loin, rather than lower parts such as the feet, knuckles, hocks, belly, and jowls.\nUS, late 1800s; popularized 1940s. The variant forms – live/eat and on/off – are attested since at least the 1930s.\nHowever decades earlier is the phrase on the hog, originally on the hog train meaning someone living on little expense.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "higher on the hog",
      "tags": [
        "comparative"
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    },
    {
      "form": "highest on the hog",
      "tags": [
        "superlative"
      ]
    }
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  "head_templates": [
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      "args": {
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        "sup": "highest on the hog"
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      "expansion": "high on the hog (comparative higher on the hog, superlative highest on the hog)",
      "name": "en-adv"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adv",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
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          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
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          "kind": "topical",
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        {
          "text": "Ever since his promotion, they’ve been living high on the hog."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1912, George S. Jack, Edward Boyle Jacobs, History of Roanoke County,, page 29",
          "text": "With all the tenderloin, spareribs and backbones, we lived “high off the hog”.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1927, Allegheny Regional Advisory Board, Proceedings of the regular meeting,, page 21",
          "text": "Down our way there is a favorite expression used quite often—“eating high on the hog”. That is what our competitors have been doing…",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1934, Time, Volume 24, p. 68",
          "text": "The synthetic belle wins the prize and her creators are eating high off the hog until the nation’s Press demands a look at the original."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006, Julia Spencer-Fleming, All Mortal Flesh: A Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne Mystery",
          "text": "If she was pulling this scam off all that time, I think she'd be living a little higher on the hog, don't you?",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Well off; living comfortably or extravagantly due to great wealth or financial security."
      ],
      "id": "en-high_on_the_hog-en-adv-7yDe9V-W",
      "links": [
        [
          "Well off",
          "well off"
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          "comfortably"
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          "extravagantly",
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        ],
        [
          "wealth",
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      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic, US) Well off; living comfortably or extravagantly due to great wealth or financial security."
      ],
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        {
          "word": "dire straits"
        },
        {
          "word": "high life"
        },
        {
          "word": "live large"
        },
        {
          "word": "well to do"
        }
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        {
          "word": "high off the hog"
        }
      ],
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      "tags": [
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{
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      "expansion": "on the hog",
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      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "on the hog train"
      },
      "expansion": "on the hog train",
      "name": "m"
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  ],
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  "forms": [
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      "form": "higher on the hog",
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      "form": "highest on the hog",
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        "superlative"
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      "word": "dire straits"
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    {
      "word": "high life"
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    {
      "word": "live large"
    },
    {
      "word": "well to do"
    }
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        "English idioms",
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        "English terms with audio links",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned",
        "en:Wealth"
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        {
          "text": "Ever since his promotion, they’ve been living high on the hog."
        },
        {
          "ref": "1912, George S. Jack, Edward Boyle Jacobs, History of Roanoke County,, page 29",
          "text": "With all the tenderloin, spareribs and backbones, we lived “high off the hog”.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1927, Allegheny Regional Advisory Board, Proceedings of the regular meeting,, page 21",
          "text": "Down our way there is a favorite expression used quite often—“eating high on the hog”. That is what our competitors have been doing…",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1934, Time, Volume 24, p. 68",
          "text": "The synthetic belle wins the prize and her creators are eating high off the hog until the nation’s Press demands a look at the original."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006, Julia Spencer-Fleming, All Mortal Flesh: A Clare Fergusson and Russ Van Alstyne Mystery",
          "text": "If she was pulling this scam off all that time, I think she'd be living a little higher on the hog, don't you?",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
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        "Well off; living comfortably or extravagantly due to great wealth or financial security."
      ],
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        ],
        [
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        "(idiomatic, US) Well off; living comfortably or extravagantly due to great wealth or financial security."
      ],
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        "US",
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      "tags": [
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  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "high off the hog"
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}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-26 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (93a6c53 and 21a9316). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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