Piggy-wig means: A sweet, infantile term for a pig - the kind used by parents, grandparents, and anyone trying to make a toddler giggle. 'Piggy-wig' has the round, warm sound of nursery English, making a barnyard. There is no real cause for parental concern; it is descriptive vocabulary rather than risky behaviour. If your teen uses it, context will usually make the intent clear. A short, curious question about where they heard it is usually all that is needed to know whether to follow up.
piggy-wig
A sweet, infantile term for a pig — the kind used by parents, grandparents, and anyone trying to make a toddler giggle.
Etymology timeline
Born ~1850 · no dated citations yetDefinitions
A sweet, infantile term for a pig — the kind used by parents, grandparents, and anyone trying to make a toddler giggle. 'Piggy-wig' has the round, warm sound of nursery English, making a barnyard animal sound cuddly and lovable. It got a notable boost from Edward Lear's 'The Owl and the Pussycat,' where the piggy-wig lends the lovers his ring. Today it survives mainly in baby talk and fond, affectionate contexts.
She squealed when she saw the piggy-wig at the petting farm and refused to leave without feeding it.
Piggy-wig means: A sweet, infantile term for a pig - the kind used by parents, grandparents, and anyone trying to make a toddler giggle. 'Piggy-wig' has the round, warm sound of nursery English, making a barnyard. There is no real cause for parental concern; it is descriptive vocabulary rather than risky behaviour. If your teen uses it, context will usually make the intent clear. A short, curious question about where they heard it is usually all that is needed to know whether to follow up.
piggy-wig means: A sweet, infantile term for a pig - the kind used by parents, grandparents, and anyone trying to make a toddler giggle. 'Piggy-wig' has the round, warm sound of nursery English,. Register: neutral, standard English. Common learner mistake is using the word in a register it does not fit, or assuming a single global meaning; always check the context before producing it yourself.
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(UK, childish, or, endearing) A pig.
Piggy-wig means: A pig.. There is no real cause for parental concern; it is descriptive vocabulary rather than risky behaviour. This is a food-related word and harmless in itself. If your teen uses it, context will usually make the intent clear. A short, curious question about where they heard it is usually all that is needed to know whether to follow up.
piggy-wig means: A pig.. Register: neutral, standard English. A common learner mistake is using the word in a register it does not fit, or assuming a single global meaning; native speakers immediately notice when slang appears in formal contexts, so always check the surrounding register before producing it yourself. A formal-English equivalent (a synonym or descriptive phrase) is usually safer in writing. When in doubt, paraphrase rather than reuse the slang form.
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For specific readers
Why is this section here?
Slang is read by different audiences for very different reasons. The For parents view re-explains the term in plain, non-judgemental language so a caregiver can understand what their child means without needing the surrounding subculture. The For English learners view focuses on register (when it's safe to use), formal alternatives, and common mistakes — what a textbook won't teach you.
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🇬🇧About British & Irish slang slang
UK and Irish slang — Cockney, Scouse, Geordie, Yorkshire, Glaswegian, Brummie, Welsh, West Country, plus Irish English. Centuries of regional dialects feeding into modern British and Irish street talk.
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Semantically related
- 81%
(UK, childish, or, endearing) a pig.
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A puerile or affectionate British English term for a young child — the kind of word a parent or grandparent would use in a cooing, baby-talk kind of way. It's formed by rhyming reduplication, the same process that gives us 'itsy-bitsy' or 'teeny-weeny.' In modern use it's mostly ironic — adults calling each other 'kiddy widdies' when someone acts immature or gets overly sensitive about something trivial.
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(Northern England, juvenile, slang) A penis.
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(UK, puerile, or, endearing) a child.