Pigs on the wing ?? expression
Steven
There is this poem/song from Pink Floyd and I was wondering if it was an
expression and what the meaning might be from
Pigs on the wing
Pigs On The Wing (Part 1)
If you didn't care what happened to me,
And I didn't care for you
We would zig zag our way
through the boredom and pain
Occasionally glancing up through the rain
Wondering which of the buggers to blame
And watching for pigs on the wing.
Steven
Someone
when pigs fly
indicating something that is an impossibility.
"Steven" <stev...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:LDtG7.1314$uc3....@typhoon.bart.nl...
Nero
>
>Hi everybody
>
>There is this poem/song from Pink Floyd and I was wondering if it was an
>expression and what the meaning might be from
>Pigs on the wing
It's a common expression, though not in those precise words. An example:
Person 1: "Perhaps today the boss will be nice to us." Person 2: "Yes, and
perhaps pigs will fly !"
Or the second person might look out of the window and say "Did I just see some
pigs flying by ?" - or something similar.
Neil
jan sand
wrote:
>The reference is to the expression
>
> when pigs fly
>
>indicating something that is an impossibility.
>
>
>"Steven"
The Russians have a similar expression I believe: When shrimps
whistle.
Jan Sand
John O'Flaherty
Another aspect might be wanting to avoid the droppings.
--
john
Gary Vellenzer
P.G.Wodehouse used it as the title of one of his books.
Gary
Martin Ambuhl
>
> Hi everybody
>
> There is this poem/song from Pink Floyd and I was wondering if it was an
> expression and what the meaning might be from
> Pigs on the wing
I'll not gloss this for you until pigs fly.
Spehro Pefhany
> Another aspect might be wanting to avoid the droppings.
Usually cows flying for that side effect.
Best regards,
--
Spehro Pefhany --"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward"
sp...@interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
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John DeFiore
It's probably not the first usage, but the band may have taken the idea from
"The Walrus and the Carpenter" by Lewis Carroll. This is pure speculation
on my part, but it gave me a chance to look up the excerpt again:
"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes-and ships-and sealing wax-
Of cabbages-and kings-
And why the sea is boiling hot-
And whether pigs have wings."
J-
Andy Callaway
--
Andy Callaway
Melbourne, Australia
www.geocities.com/andy_callaway
"Spehro Pefhany" <sp...@interlog.com> wrote in message
news:EuAG7.151973$YL3.45...@news3.rdc1.on.home.com...
Andy Callaway
they had an inflatable pig made, which was filled with helium and tethered
between two of the smoke stacks of Battersea power station in London. The
idea was to photograph it. However, at some stage during the photo shoot the
balloon broke free and drifted away. Londoners were witness to the nearest
thing to a flying pig anyone's likely to see.
--
Andy Callaway
Melbourne, Australia
www.geocities.com/andy_callaway
"John DeFiore" <johnd...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:9seokb$m76$1...@bob.news.rcn.net...
Steven
In my opinion the meaning of " and watching for pigs on the wing" in this
poem can not match the meaning of the expression "Yeah and pigs will fly one
day" in a negative sense like in "yeah like that will ever happen". I also
know about the story of the real flying pig for the Photo shoot in London,
but at that time the album was already finished, and they wanted a flying
pig because they made a song about it. So I don't think that the fact that
it really broke loose is relevant here.
Would it be possible to look at the poem and see the meaning of it in the
following way:
if someony would sit on your wing, he would get a free ride. You have te do
the work and he just flies along. He would be abusing your kindness. He
would profit from your efforts. I would say that that person is a bad
person, a pig! So I think they (Pink Floyd) are saying to watch out for
people who will take advantage of you.
(you probably notice that I am not English, nor an English teacher, so sorry
if i make mistakes, it probably quite important in newsgroups like these, to
use correct spelling)
Ok think about it and please send again that many replies
S.
> As an aside, when the Floyd were creating the album cover (remember them?)
> they had an inflatable pig made, which was filled with helium and tethered
> between two of the smoke stacks of Battersea power station in London. The
> idea was to photograph it. However, at some stage during the photo shoot
the
> balloon broke free and drifted away. Londoners were witness to the nearest
> thing to a flying pig anyone's likely to see.
> > > Hi everybody
Donna Richoux
> Thank you all for the replies BUT
>
> In my opinion the meaning of " and watching for pigs on the wing" in this
> poem can not match the meaning of the expression "Yeah and pigs will fly one
> day" in a negative sense like in "yeah like that will ever happen". I also
> know about the story of the real flying pig for the Photo shoot in London,
> but at that time the album was already finished, and they wanted a flying
> pig because they made a song about it. So I don't think that the fact that
> it really broke loose is relevant here.
>
> Would it be possible to look at the poem and see the meaning of it in the
> following way:
>
> if someony would sit on your wing, he would get a free ride. You have te do
> the work and he just flies along. He would be abusing your kindness. He
> would profit from your efforts. I would say that that person is a bad
> person, a pig! So I think they (Pink Floyd) are saying to watch out for
> people who will take advantage of you.
The problem with your idea is that it is too original. I have never
heard of "being on the wing" to mean "being a free-loader" or a
hitchhiker or a parasite or any sort of advantage taker. It is not
common for anything to hitch a ride on wings of airplanes or birds or
insects. So although the idea makes a little sense, it just isn't true.
To "be on the wing" is definitely an established idiom meaning, to fly.
(from Cambridge International Dictionary of
Idioms)
be on the wing literary
if a bird or insect is on the wing, it is flying
Numerous orange-tip butterflies were on the wing
in the warm sunshine.
You can go nuts trying to make sense out of song lyrics. Sometimes the
songwriters just reached for an easy rhyme. Sometimes they were stoned.
Sometimes they threw in very personal inside-jokes. You're not always
going to succeed in finding a logical explanation.
> > > > There is this poem/song from Pink Floyd and I was wondering if it was
> an
> > > > expression and what the meaning might be from
> > > > Pigs on the wing
> > > >
> > > > Pigs On The Wing (Part 1)
> > > >
> > > > If you didn't care what happened to me,
> > > > And I didn't care for you
> > > > We would zig zag our way
> > > > through the boredom and pain
> > > > Occasionally glancing up through the rain
> > > > Wondering which of the buggers to blame
> > > > And watching for pigs on the wing.
My guess from these lines is that it means here, something unusual,
striking, unlikely, eye-catching; some miracle that breaks through the
boredom.
--
Best wishes --- Donna Richoux
Joe Fineman
> To "be on the wing" is definitely an established idiom meaning, to
> fly.
>
> (from Cambridge International Dictionary of
> Idioms)
>
> be on the wing literary
>
> if a bird or insect is on the wing, it is flying
>
> Numerous orange-tip butterflies were on the wing
> in the warm sunshine.
The bird is on the wing, the poet says,
And you and I have said it here before.
Drink to the bird.
-- E. A. Robinson, "Mr Flood's Party"
-- possibly alluding to
The lark's on the wing;
The snail's on the thorn;
-- R. Browning, "Pippa's Song"
or
The bird is on the wing? Absurd!
I thought the wing was on the bird.
-- Anon., U.S.
--
--- Joe Fineman j...@TheWorld.com
||: Some difficulties present valuable opportunities, and the :||
||: rest present valuable excuses. :||
Jerry Friedman
> tr...@euronet.nl (Donna Richoux) writes:
>
> > To "be on the wing" is definitely an established idiom meaning, to
> > fly.
> The bird is on the wing, the poet says,
> And you and I have said it here before.
> Drink to the bird.
>
> -- E. A. Robinson, "Mr Flood's Party"
>
> -- possibly alluding to
>
> The lark's on the wing;
> The snail's on the thorn;
>
> -- R. Browning, "Pippa's Song"
>
> or
>
> The bird is on the wing? Absurd!
> I thought the wing was on the bird.
>
> -- Anon., U.S.
Did Edward FitzGerald live in vain?
VII
Come, fill the Cup, and in the fire of Spring
Your Winter-garment of Repentance fling:
The Bird of Time has but a little way
To flutter--and the Bird is on the Wing.
from _The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam_
<http://classics.mit.edu/Khayyam/rubaiyat.html>. From what I
understand, at the time Robinson wrote, the Rubaiyat may have been the
most familiar poem (or set of poems) in English. Note "fill the
Cup"--a lot of the rubaiyat are about drinking.
--
Jerry Friedman
Jerry Friedman
> Steven <stev...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Thank you all for the replies BUT
> >
> > In my opinion the meaning of " and watching for pigs on the wing" in this
> > poem can not match the meaning of the expression "Yeah and pigs will fly one
> > day" in a negative sense like in "yeah like that will ever happen". I also
> > know about the story of the real flying pig for the Photo shoot in London,
> > but at that time the album was already finished, and they wanted a flying
> > pig because they made a song about it. So I don't think that the fact that
> > it really broke loose is relevant here.
> >
> > Would it be possible to look at the poem and see the meaning of it in the
> > following way:
> >
> > if someony would sit on your wing, he would get a free ride. You have te do
> > the work and he just flies along. He would be abusing your kindness. He
> > would profit from your efforts. I would say that that person is a bad
> > person, a pig! So I think they (Pink Floyd) are saying to watch out for
> > people who will take advantage of you.
Well, it's possible, but as I said before, the other pigs on the album
are evil authority figures, so why shouldn't these pigs be the same?
As Donna says below, "on the wing" really does not suggest "sitting on
the wing". Furthermore, as you know, the album ends with these lines
from "Pigs on the Wing (Part 2)": "And any fool knows/ A dog needs a
home/ And shelter/ From pigs on the wing." Since dogs don't have
wings, I don't see how your suggestion works here.
> The problem with your idea is that it is too original. I have never
> heard of "being on the wing" to mean "being a free-loader" or a
> hitchhiker or a parasite or any sort of advantage taker. It is not
> common for anything to hitch a ride on wings of airplanes or birds or
> insects. So although the idea makes a little sense, it just isn't true.
>
> To "be on the wing" is definitely an established idiom meaning, to fly.
...
> You can go nuts trying to make sense out of song lyrics. Sometimes the
> songwriters just reached for an easy rhyme. Sometimes they were stoned.
> Sometimes they threw in very personal inside-jokes. You're not always
> going to succeed in finding a logical explanation.
Now that's true, though Floyd is probably more comprehensible than
many.
> > > > > There is this poem/song from Pink Floyd and I was wondering if it was
> an
> > > > > expression and what the meaning might be from
> > > > > Pigs on the wing
> > > > >
> > > > > Pigs On The Wing (Part 1)
> > > > >
> > > > > If you didn't care what happened to me,
> > > > > And I didn't care for you
> > > > > We would zig zag our way
> > > > > through the boredom and pain
> > > > > Occasionally glancing up through the rain
> > > > > Wondering which of the buggers to blame
> > > > > And watching for pigs on the wing.
>
> My guess from these lines is that it means here, something unusual,
> striking, unlikely, eye-catching; some miracle that breaks through the
> boredom.
Listen to the album (which is magnificent, though it takes more
patience and getting used to than anything else Pink Floyd did after
_Atom Heart Mother_) and I'll bet you won't guess that any more. As
you can see from the lines I quoted, the pigs are threats.
--
Jerry Friedman
Andy Callaway
this is actually relevant here.
--
Andy Callaway
Melbourne, Australia
www.geocities.com/andy_callaway
"Steven" <stev...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:BhpI7.589$Bz3....@typhoon.bart.nl...
isageni...@gmail.com
there are may different thoughts about the meaning of Roger Waters "Pigs on the wings" here on this post!
Has anyone listened to the whole album?
Like reading a book, and learning what the author was trying to say, this definitely is what has to be done.
The animals are just substitutions to peoples personalities.
Dogs are nice but sometimes bite.
Sheep are meek and obedient.
Pigs are the ones who manipulate and try to control. You have to watch out and be leery of pigs.
The three pigs:1)THE PREACHER: "when your hand is on your heart" need I say more
"big wheel" filling stadiums (pig mines)
"keep on digging" looking for more sheep?
2)BUS STOP RAT BAG: = forceful authority
"hot stuff with a hatpin" badge on a cap or hat.
"good stuff with a hand gun" ego trip.
2)WHITEHOUSE: government
"trying to keep feelings of the streets" control!
Now pigs on the wings are flying about looking for trouble and that is why you look out for them before they get you.
Peter.
a.bri...@gmail.com
a.bri...@gmail.com
cameron....@gmail.com
I think it could mean 3 things (most have been mentioned above, but I think it could potentially mean all 3):
1 slang for pilots for when an enemy pilot in your blindspot
2 a reference to the phrase "when pigs fly", meaning an impossibility
3 and most likely in my opinion, the metaphorical pigs referenced in the album are "on the wings"(or in the wings) meaning that the tyrannical "pig" class are waiting for the opportunity to arise for them to act on something
