pig as college slang(was "di?nt" (with glottal stop)

[David Bowie]

From:    Jesse Sheidlower <jester at PANIX.COM>
: On Wed, Nov 17, 2004 at 01:56:21AM -0500, Douglas G. Wilson wrote:
:: somebody else wrote:

::: Of course, pig=police goes back to the 1800's.  It just reached
::: mainstream in the 1960's, as opposed to being invented at that
::: point.]

:: Is it certain that the 19th-century slang was continuous with the
:: 1960's US college slang? Partridge thinks so, but ....

: I thought (<tm> useless suggestions) that it has been an intentional
: coinage by the Black Panthers, not based on the earlier use.

Of course, even if the Black Panther(s) who came up with the epithet
*thought* that it was a new coinage, it may not have been. Linguistic items
have a way of remaining below the surface, unnoticed, only to burst into
consciousness without any of the vectors for it realizing they weren't
coming up with something completely new.

David Bowie                                         http://pmpkn.net/lx
    Jeanne's Two Laws of Chocolate: If there is no chocolate in the
    house, there is too little; some must be purchased. If there is
    chocolate in the house, there is too much; it must be consumed.