by cock and pie
Preserved but no longer current.
We meet with cock's bones, cock's wounds, cock's mother, cock's body, cock's passion, etc., where we can have no doubt that the word is a minced oath, and stands for God. The pie is the table or rule in the old Catholic office, showing how to find out the service for each day (from Med. Lat. pica).
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “by cock and pie” mean?
We meet with cock's bones, cock's wounds, cock's mother, cock's body, cock's passion, etc., where we can have no doubt that the word is a minced oath, and stands for God. The pie is the table or rule in the old Catholic office, showing how to find out the service for each day (from Med. Lat. pica).
Is “by cock and pie” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.