I never knew the phrase "a pig in a poke"

[Pepsei]

back then people used to put a cat in a bag and sell it as a pig.

so when you look into the bag, you "let the cat out of the bag" because it'll run away.

then you're left "holding the bag"

 

[Slacker]

ARRRRRRRRRR! Dont let the cat out of the bag laddy

 

[Homerboy]

how could anyone mistake a cat for a big? the shape, the size, the sounds, the movement aren't even close to eachother... WHile an interesting fact(?) it makes no damned sense.

 

[Slacker]

Originally posted by: Homerboy
how could anyone mistake a cat for a big? the shape, the size, the sounds, the movement aren't even close to eachother... WHile an interesting fact(?) it makes no damned sense.

A piglet actually.

 

[FoBoT]

a tiny furry pig? maybe tiny furry pigs are more tender?

 

[Homerboy]

A piglet actually.

Well yeah I guess I figured that. Still a piglet and a cat aren't very similar to eachother. People must ahve been D-U-M dumb back then.

 

[Pepsei]

right, and cats really aren't that tasty compare to a delicious pig... hmmm .... bacon.....

 

[CravenTacos]

"A pig in a poke is a blind purchase, something bought sight unseen; a poke being a dialectical term for a bag. It was a common scam in Renaissance times to substitute a cat or other creature of similar size for a suckling pig at market. To buy a pig in a poke is to not open the bag and check what one is buying. Various phrases referring to pigs and pokes date to around 1530. The proverb never buy a pig in a poke dates to 1562. See also: Let the Cat Out of the Bag."