I read with interest your article on slang for cops: The Straight Dope:
the term, “pig” reappeared as a term for police, not because of Hippies or the lawless but because of the Black Panthers, particularly Huey P. Newton. I don’t think he was aware it was previously enlisted to rebuke police. He/ the Black Panthers tried other terms that didn’t stick.
Shortly thereafter, Hippies everywhere were using it. Jerry Rubin and Abby Hoffman picked it up and even carried a pig into court.
Although I can’t prove the following, using the term as part of a disciplined rebuke against the police who often arrested panthers for other language. Along with having a lot of traction and offending cops it was also a word that fell within the purview of the 1st amendment/free speech.
However, that was not, at least ostensibly, to represent the police. Pigasus was nominated for President in August 1968. The name “Pigasus” was a reference to the winged horse Pegasus and the expression “when pigs fly.” It is evident from Kunstler’s remarks in the testimony, however, that the term “pig” for police was already well established.
Yes, that’s mentioned in the column. However, as noted it was not widely used except among criminals until the 1960s. There is also some question as to whether the earlier usage of the term for police developed independently in the US from that in the UK. The question is what prompted the resurgence of the term in the late 1960s.
The fact that Axelrod found a postcard depicting the police as a pig suggests the meaning was already current before the Panthers started using it. They may, however, have helped promote it. The Panthers were founded in 1966. By 1968-1969 the meaning was popular.
No one is arguing against that. In fact, it’s even stated as such in the staff report that ciofoci linked to. Dex goes even further and states that the term was used as early as the mid-1500s to refer to a person who was very much disliked. The 1811 date is also in the staff report.
Dex’s staff report says that the term was confined to the criminal classes until the 1960s when it was taken up by protesters. The point of the OP is that it was the Black Panthers, not protestors, that revived and popularized the term in the 1960s.
The quote I dug up from Huey P. Newton seems to support the OP’s statement that the Black Panthers coined the term independently from its original meaning. Of course it’s possible that “pig” took off when “dog”, “brute”, and “animal” did not because the term was already in use by some folks due to its previous use back to the 1800s. Or maybe it took off due to the reasons that Huey stated. I couldn’t tell you.
So, you’re right, the earliest known cite is from 1811. But what caused the term to become more widespread in the 60s, and did the Black Panthers create the term independently from its original use?
Checking the New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, the earliest citations are from 1968. In Do It!, Jerry Rubin say “Pigs was a Berkeley San Francisco thing, inspired by the Black Panthers.”
Yes, we know. See posts #9 and #10. I was referring to New Partridge, which only includes more recent citations. We’re looking at the resurgence of the term in the 1960s. I don’t believe I heard the term in that sense before the late 1960s. I don’t think there’s much question that it became much more widespread then.
“Male chauvinist” seem to date from as early as 1924. By the late 1960s, it was becoming popular to refer to various kinds of social oppressors as pigs, such as racist pigs etc. Piggies by the Beatles (1968) may also influenced/been influenced by this.