Talk:Pig in a poke

message: What do you think of removing the phrase "But apparently rats and cats were not." It seems a bit non-scholarly. 71.215.217.196 18:54, 27 October 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Agreed, plus what relevance do rats have to the topic anyway?  It doesn't say rats could be used in place of cats later in the article. MaxKnight 01:42, 19 December 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Rats and Cats 

message: Removed text stating that "letting the cat out of the bag" is related to the cat o' nine tails.  Apart from the fact that it's hard to see how the phrase would have acquired its current meaning if the cat in question were a whip, there is no evidence for this derivation.  See this discussion for example. Éamonn McManus 13:41, 22 January 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I think two distinct expressions are being confused here. There's "letting the cat out of the bag" which, has the meaning and likely origin you describe here; and there's "the cat is out of the bag", which means that something bad is about to happen and refers to the cat o' nine tails. Anyway, that's the way it was explained to me.   — Aldaron • T/C   02:39, 21 June 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: The added part on the mainpage about "no room to swing a cat" referring to floggings being carried out on the gundeck is wrong - at least as it applies to the Royal Navy.  Floggings were traditionally carried out at a grating rigged to the fall of the quaterdeck, not below decks as this section implies. 62.196.17.197 (talk) 09:42, 30 May 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Cat o' nine tails legend 

message: Is this actually the origin of the "left holding the bag" phrase?  It seems perfectly logical (and the best explanation I can find) - but every other source I can find on the 'net seems to quote this article: http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-lef1.htm  which quite thoroughly contradicts it.  For what it's worth, the article in question does a very poor job of actually explaining its definition of the origin and sounds like conjecture, but a few more sources or a direct citation to verify the information is called for.  Tofof 05:53, 4 June 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: The explanation given in WorldWideWords is basically right.  The cops are coming, your gangmates have given you the bag of swag -- or in the more recent U.S. version, of contraband drugs -- to hold and have split the scene, abandoning you to take the full blame.  I can't recall any citations at the moment, but I've seen it happen a time or two (don't ask!)  --Rick Drake 03:21, 16 November 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Other phrases 

message: Is this the origin of "sucker", meaning a looser? How about "suck" as in "this sucks!"? --Apoc2400 (talk) 17:17, 10 October 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Orgin of sucker? 

message: This? — Nahum Reduta [talk|contribs] 06:07, 9 November 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  "The cat's in the bag!" 

message: I have removed the Thai language version as it appears to bear no relation to either the trick or the phrase. Rubensni (talk) 19:21, 10 September 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Thai version of trick? 

message: The gold rush explanation has an air of original research, and doesn't explain why similar phrases appears in so many European languages. 93.96.236.8 (talk) 11:26, 14 May 2011 (UTC)
thread_title: Gold Rush

message: I, a Brazilian and native Portuguese speaker, came to this page because I was looking for an English translation/analog of the expression "comprar gato por lebre". I can attest this doesn't mean "a shot in the dark", but actually being conned buying (or getting or whatever the metaphor can be applied) something for something else (or even getting something of inferior value). Thus, I think the expression should be removed from the list of translations.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Dellamotta (talk • contribs) 03:57, 19 May 2022 (UTC)
thread_title:  The Portuguese supposed similar expression actually refers to the con 

message: "When the buyer discovered the deception, he was said to "let the cat out of the bag", that is, to learn of something unfortunate prematurely"
Why would it be considered as premature to let the cat out of the poke?  What else is the buyer expected to do after buying a(n assumed) pig and having taken it home?
If someone would have discovered the deception before buying, he wouldn't be a buyer.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A09:8E40:2E2:8800:1:FF:FF:F (talk) 04:35, 29 December 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Prematurely?