high on the hog

high on the hog

Meaning

• someone who is used to luxury
• an affluent person or surroundings

Example Sentences

1. We aren't as wealthy as the Jones' to eat so high on the hog.
2. He will not be able to live in these conditions because he has always had it from high on the hog.
3. Susan needs to understand her boundaries. Her father does not have it from as high on the hog as some of her friends'.
4. It is immature to think that just because someone has it from high on the hog they aren't just as sensitive in their actions.

Origin
This phrase originates from the hog, literally. The best meat from pork is said to be from its back and upper legs. So anyone who was wealthy could eat the high parts of the hog. The word ‘high' is referred in positive light in other phrases too including ‘high heavens', ‘high life' and ‘high table'. Although it has been in existence since the 9th century, the exact form of the phrase was used in 1946 in a newspaper called the ‘Call Bulletin'. It was made popular in 1920 by the New York Times, blaming people who ate high up the hog to be the cause of the increasing inflation.