Police as "pigs"

[Alan Baragona]

In his 1973 book, Revolutionary Suicide, Huey Newton claimed that it was
illegal in the 60s to curse a police officer, so the Panthers started using
insults like "pig" and "cracker" that were offensive but not obscene or
profane.  Whether the Panthers even knew about earlier uses of "pig" is not
clear, but it seems perfectly possible that this was sui generis and
coincidental.

Alan Baragona

----- Original Message -----
From: "Benjamin Zimmer" <bgzimmer at RCI.RUTGERS.EDU>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Wednesday, November 17, 2004 2:00 AM
Subject: Re: Police as "pigs"
>
> In any case, I
> don't think it was really popularized until the rise of the Black Panthers
> in 1967-68, in slogans like "off the pig(s)".
>
> --Ben Zimmer