PIG vs. PORK

Good morning.

Over the next few days we will look at some interesting vocabulary and expressions that came up during Ziggurat's last CommunicACTION Weekend in Viladrau. One of the best things about these high-quality immersions is the food prepared by Salvador Casaseca, gourmet chef and director of Xalet La Coromina; we discussed today's words during one of the many delicious meals that we enjoyed in La Coromina.

Today's words are: PIG and PORK

Meaning of PIG: an animal with pink, black or brown skin, short legs, a broad nose and a short curly tail. A pig is sometimes called a HOG, especially in US English.

Meaning of PORK: meat from a pig that has not been cured (cured = preserved using salt or smoke).

So we use the word pig to describe the animal (cerdo) and pork to describe the meat that comes from that animal.

Example 1:
Speaker A: Are you a vegetarian?
Speaker B: Yes, but I eat eggs and fish. However, I don't eat beef or pork.

There are certain dishes where we use the word pig instead of pork, such as suckling pig (cochinillo), but in general pig is used for the animal and pork for the meat.

Example 2:
When I was a child, we used to raise pigs for their meat. We often had fresh bacon, pork chops and sausages.

You may also want to look at the Daily Vitamin from January 15, 2007 when we looked at expressions that use the word pig.

If you have any questions about today's Daily Vitamin, please use the Daily Vitamin Plus! forum section on our website (www.ziggurat.es). 

I hope you have a good day.