Eileen from Chesapeake, Virginia, recalls her mother’s response whenever someone in their family burped: Excuse the pigs, the hogs went out for a walk. It’s a mild reprimand (or apology, if the speaker is the one who burped), and there are many variations, including Excuse the pig, the hog’s out walking and Excuse the pig, the hog’s around the corner, as well as Excuse the pig, but the hog’s still around. Other versions include Pardon a pig — a hog would know better and another from the United Kingdom: Pardon, Mrs. Arden, there’s a pig in your garden. If you’re out in public, and your companion lets out a belch, you can say Excuse my pig — he’s a friend. One jocular way to acknowledge one’s own burp is to announce Greetings from the interior! or say I don’t remember eating that. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Excuse the Pig, the Hog’s Out Walking”
Hello. Welcome to A Way with Words.
Hi there. My name’s Aileen Manaccio, and I currently live in Chesapeake, Virginia.
Oh, hi, Aileen. Welcome to the show.
Hi. Well, my mother had an adage for everything.
Every time we did anything, she had a quick quip to share with us, and we would just look at her and go, what?
So my favorite one that my mother always said to us was, excuse the pigs, the hogs went out for a walk.
And that usually followed one of us five girls either burping without excusing ourselves or if she accidentally did a sound that she was embarrassed about, she would say it as well.
So I just wanted to find out the history because I’ve lived many places in the country, in the Midwest and the Northeast and down in Virginia, and no one’s ever heard of that.
So I just wanted to share that with you.
So, Eileen, you and your four sisters might burp, and then your mother would say, excuse the pig, the hogs went out for a walk.
Yes.
Okay.
Yeah, well, Eileen, the good news is that Grant and I have definitely heard this.
And over the years we’ve compiled a long list of other variations on this expression.
Excuse the pig, the hog’s out walking.
Excuse the pig, the hog’s around the corner.
Or excuse the pig, but the hog’s still around.
And it’s usually, as you said, it’s a kind of reprimand.
Even if you burp and excuse yourself, you know, you shouldn’t be having to excuse yourself in the first place.
That’s kind of the message there.
And, gosh, there are lots of different variations of this.
I don’t know how far back it goes, but pardon a pig, a hog would know better.
One of my favorites comes from England where some people say, pardon, Mrs. Arden, there’s a pig in your garden.
Oh, I love that one.
That’s funny.
Fascinating.
I’m not alone.
That’s good.
No, no, not at all.
And if you’re out in public and your companion burps, you can say, excuse my pig, he’s a friend.
I like that.
There are other things that have nothing to do with hogs and pigs, such as if you burp, you say, greetings from the interior.
Or I don’t remember eating that.
I think that actually was an old Milton Berle joke.
Yeah, there’s a long list.
So, Eileen, to answer your question, we don’t really know the history of it.
We just know that it’s definitely out there.
It’s always been out there, apparently.
Wow.
Yeah, people, you know, it’s nice to take it not too seriously because it’s such a human thing.
And it is rude in some places and some cultures.
But, you know, it happens.
Yeah.
And a gentle way to let your kids know that it’s rude, but put a little humor on it.
Yeah.
And what was your version again?
Excuse the pigs, the hogs went out for a walk.
That’s pretty good.
Eileen, thank you so much for your call.
We really appreciate it.
My pleasure.
It was great talking to you.
Thank you.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Tell us the funny ways that you remind the kids of their manners in your house.
