Post #1404953
2026-04-10 08:48 UTC
@cstross @gmh That's not what Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable says. According to Brewer, it's an actual cat, which is being sold unseen as a piglet. If you fall for it, you've bought a pig in a poke, and if you reveal the scam, you've...
Now that I think about it, it seems an unlikely scam, though, so I dunno.
Replies (2)
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@fishidwardrobe@social.tchncs.de 2026-04-10 09:15
@daibhidc @cstross @gmh "pig in a poke" is a different phrase altogether, though. as a scam it would probably make sense in a world where cats were wild animals of no value: which is how they were viewed here until relatively recently.
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@bellinghman@wandering.shop 2026-04-10 09:25
@daibhidc @cstross @gmh The definitely nautical one is "not enough room to swing a cat"