E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Soaped-pig Fashion (In).
Vague; a method of speaking or writing which always leaves a way of escape. The allusion is to the custom at fairs, etc., of soaping the tail of a pig before turning it out to be caught by the tail.
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“He is vague as may be; writing in what is called the ‘soaped-pig’ fashion.”—Carlyle: The Diamond Necklace, chap. iv.
