pig dog

English

Alternative forms

• pigdog
• pig-dog

Etymology

Taj Burrows offers two (perhaps fanciful) explanations for the surfing sense (Taj Burrow’s Book of Hot Surfing, edited by Sam McIntosh, Rollingyouth Press, 2003, ISBN 0975070606), that it’s from the strange dog-like face most surfers get when in the stance (page 119) or that the stance is low and sturdy like a dog (glossary page 171).

Noun

pig dog (plural pig dogs)

1. (Australian, New Zealand) A dog bred to hunt wild pigs and boars, typically based on breeds such as Staffordshire Terrier and English Bull Terrier.
2. (surfing) A stance used for surfing tubes on one’s backhand. The surfer crouches low over a bent front knee, back leg extending back, outside hand holding onto the outside rail, and inside arm extended upwards touching the face of the wave as a guide (or digging in to slow down).
3. a contemptible or worthless person.
   • 1915, Joseph Conrad, Victory: An island tale, 1995 Penguin Classics p95 (ISBN 0140189785)

     He proceeded to call Heyst many names, of which ‘pig-dog’ was not the worst, with such vehemence that he actually choked himself.

   • 1941, The Beano, March 8th, Lord Snooty

     To der pig-dog Lord Snooty from der Great Adolf Hitler.

   • 1975, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, directed by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones

     You don’t frighten us, English pig-dogs!

Verb

pig dog (third-person singular simple present pig dogs, present participle pig dogging, simple past and past participle pig dogged)

1. To surf in the pig dog stance (above).

   2003: Pig dogging from the take-off is easier than surfing along the wave, lining up a section, grabbing the rail and setting up the tube. — Taj Burrow’s Book of Hot Surfing, edited by Sam McIntosh, Rollingyouth Press, 2003, ISBN 0975070606, page 119.