Item purchased without inspection

A pig in a poke is a thing that is bought without first being inspected, and thus of unknown authenticity or quality.[1] The idiom is attested in 1555:

I wyll neuer bye the pyg in the poke

Thers many a foule pyg in a feyre cloke[2]

A "poke" is a bag, so the image is of a concealed item being sold.

Starting in the 19th century, this idiom was explained as a confidence trick where a farmer would substitute a cat for a suckling pig when bringing it to market. When the buyer discovered the deception, he was said to "let the cat out of the bag", that is, to learn of something unfortunate prematurely, [3] hence the expression "letting the cat out of the bag",[4] meaning to reveal that which is secret.[5] The French idiom acheter (un) chat en poche and the Dutch een kat in de zak kopen (both: to buy a cat in a bag) refer to an actual scam of this nature, as do many other European equivalents, while the English expression refers to the appearance of the trick.[5] The English idiom "sold a pup" refers to a similar con.[6]

In common law, buyers have the right to inspect goods before purchase.[7][8]

Etymology [ edit ]

A poke is a sack or bag, from French poque, which is also the etymon of "pocket", "pouch", and "poach".[9] Poke is still in regional use. Pigs were formerly brought to market for sale in a cloth bag, a poke.

Relation to other idioms and expressions [ edit ]

The English colloquialisms such as turn out to be a pig in a poke or buy a pig in a poke mean that something is sold or bought without the buyer knowing its true nature or value, especially when buying without inspecting the item beforehand. The phrase can also be applied to accepting an idea or plan without a full understanding of its basis. Similar expressions exist in other European languages, most of them referring to the purchase of a cat in a bag.

Language Phrase Translation Arabic يشتري سمك في ماء ‎ to buy fish in water Bulgarian да купиш котка в торба to buy a cat in a bag Catalan Donar/Prendre gat per llebre to give/to take cat instead of hare Chinese 隔山买老牛 buy a cow over there in another mountain Croatian kupiti mačka u vreći to buy a cat in a sack Czech koupit zajíce v pytli to buy a hare in a sack Danish at købe katten i sækken to buy the cat in the sack Dutch een kat in de zak kopen to buy a cat in the sack Estonian ostma põrsast kotis to buy a piglet in a sack French acheter un chat dans un sac

acheter chat en poche to buy a cat in a bag Finnish ostaa sika säkissä to buy a pig in a sack German Die Katze im Sack kaufen to buy the cat in the sack Greek αγοράζω γουρούνι στο σακκί to buy a pig in a sack Hebrew חתול בשק ‎ cat in a sack [10] Hungarian zsákbamacska cat in a sack Icelandic að kaupa köttinn í sekknum to buy the cat in the sack Indonesian kucing dalam karung cat in a sack Irish ceannaigh muc i mála buying a pig in a bag Italian comprare a scatola chiusa to buy in a sealed box Latvian pirkt kaķi maisā to buy a cat in a sack Lithuanian pirkti katę maiše to buy a cat in a sack Luxembourgish d'Kaz am Sak kafen to buy the cat in a sack Macedonian да купиш мачка во вреќа to buy the cat in the sack Maltese xtara l-ħut fil-baħar to buy fish in the sea Norwegian kjøpe katta i sekken to buy the cat in the sack Polish kupić kota w worku to buy a cat in a sack Portuguese comprar gato por lebre to buy a cat instead of a hare Romanian cumperi mâța în sac to buy the cat in the bag Russian купить кота в мешке to buy a cat in a sack Serbian купити мачку у џаку to buy a cat in a sack Slovak kúpiť mačku vo vreci to buy a cat in a sack Slovene kupiti mačka v žaklju to buy a cat in a sack Spanish dar/pasar gato por liebre to give a cat instead of a hare (as food) Swedish köpa grisen i säcken to buy the pig in the sack Vietnamese mua mèo trong bị to buy a cat in a bag Welsh prynu cath mewn cwd to buy a cat in a bag Zulu ukuthenga ingulube esesakeni to buy a pig in a sack

Use in popular culture [ edit ]

In the April 1929 edition of the literary magazine London Aphrodite, a story by Rhys Davies, titled "A Pig in a Poke", was published, in which a Welsh collier (a coal miner) takes a woman from London for his wife and regrets it.[11] (Boulton 1993: p. 278)

See also [ edit ]

References [ edit ]