Dictionary definition of “pig in a python”

pig in a python

n. especially in demographics, a spike or surge in a statistic measured over time. Subjects: English, Colloquial

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Citations: 1974 Russell Baker New York Times Magazine (Apr. 21) “Pigs in a Python” p. 6: All very well for the bulge group, you may say. It will continue to dominate society as it passes through the decades like a pig through a python. 1983 Philip H. Dougherty New York Times (Feb. 11) “Advertising; Redbook Rejuggles Its Image”: It is a population segment that will grow 27 percent by 1990, and that portion of American womanhood that Gilbert Maurer, president of Hearst Magazines, lovingly characterized as ‘‘the pig in the python.’’ 1987 Thomas B. Edsall Washington Post (Apr. 15) “Fund-Raising as Preoccupation; Early Advantage Becomes More Critical” p. A01: The intense pressure to raise money comes from various sources. One of the most important is the doubling of caucuses and primaries from nine to 18 in early March 1988-a series of post-Iowa and New Hampshire contests requiring extensive organization in 1987 and massive infusions of cash in late February 1988 through the first week of March. “It’s a pig in a python,” Atwater said. 2007 [FSO Mexico] Tales from a Small Planet Message Boards (Jan. 11) “Joining the Foreign Service: Re: DS Budget Help”: As a DRI hire, I am part of the group of State employees that has come to be called “the pig in the python.” Prior to us (us being the pig), there were years of chronic under-staffing (the python), with some years having officer intake of just 80 people, and even some years when nobody was hired. 2007 Faisal Islam New Statesman (London, United Kingdom) (Mar. 5) “The great generational robbery”: The economic impact of this glut of postwar children is familiar to those in the City, who refer to it as the “pig in the pipe”—the visible signs of the baby boomers charging through the decades.

Posted 6 Mar 07 | Permalink | Tell a Friend