Eat like a pig
Suggest a CorrectionMeaning
Eat a large amount, or eat in a way the speaker considers greedy, hurried, or messy. Informal and disapproving when aimed at someone else. It may criticise quantity, greed, speed, or table manners, so context matters; it can also shame a person's body or eating behaviour and should be used cautiously. Regional use: Widespread informal English.
Origin
This simile rests on a longstanding human stereotype of pigs as greedy or dirty eaters. Pig has been applied contemptuously to people since the 16th century, and to act or live like a pig is recorded from the 17th; the exact wording eat like a pig developed within that broader comparison. No reliable evidence supports the existing claims of a Dickens note in the 1870s or a Punch coinage in the 1880s, and no single occasion or author is known.
Research Sources
Usage Examples
- After the all-day hike, I was so hungry that I ate like a pig.
- He ate like a pig at the buffet, piling food onto his plate and talking with his mouth full.
- Telling a child that she eats like a pig is more likely to shame her than improve her manners.