| Summary: | puffing-pig n The porpoise being somewhat "snouted", inclined to grunt and somewhat porcine in shape, is more often a "pig" or "hog" than a "hound". Two terms common to Grands Banks fishermen for the Common or Harbour Porpoise, are _puffing pig_ and _herring hog_, both alliterative, though one is derived from the animal's snuffling sound, the other from its voracious onslaught on the herring shoals. _Porpoise_ derives from OE _porepisce_ and _porpesse_, "swine fish". The older French name is _pore poisson_, "pig fish" (akin to obe. kng. _sea-hog_); the more modern French usage is _marsouin_, "sea-swine". In Gaelic and at least some Irish dialects, the Beaked Porpoise, sometimes varieties of the dolphin as well. are _muc-bhiorach_, "beaked pig", while another variety is _muc-stellain_, "splashing pig", otherwise _puthag_, a word which also means puff of wind, and may be behind _puffing pig_. W. J. KIRWIN DEC 1972 JH DEC 1972 Used I Used I Not used
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