11th
Pyggs and Pots: A Word Origin Coinky-Dink?
Never asked my friend Virginia, why she named her pottery business “Dancing Pig Pottery”. A wild guess is that it has to do with pigs and mud and mud = clay. The dancing part? Well, what’s more joyful than a pig dancing in the mud?
But that’s not the interesting part. Here’s the interesting part (which I learned today from my friend Etta Mologie, a recreational linguist):
Yes, a “piggy bank” is made in the shape of a pig. Duh. Why else would it be called a “piggy” bank. But wait- not so fast, Sherlock. It turns out that “piggy banks” only started being created in that shape because… well, perhaps a flow chart will be easier than a wordy explanation…
- Anglo-Saxons named a certain abundant clay “pygg” >
- they used it to make everyday earthenware >
- small pots were used to store loose items, like coins >
- those pots were called “pygg jars” >
- 300 years or so later, “pygg jar” refers mainly to vessels used to hold coins >
- brilliant Victorian Brits made the homonymific link between “pygg” and “pig” >
- they started making pig shaped jars for children to save coins in >
Voila! The great birth of the piggy bank!
So, did Virginia, purveyer of Dancing Pig clay pots know that her ancient predecessors made “pyggy” pots too? I’ll have to ask her…
