to go the whole hog
Preserved but no longer current.
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 “to go the whole hog” mean?
To dp the thing completely and thoroughly, without com- promise or reservation; to go the whole way. William Cowper says (Hypocrisy Detected, 1779) that the Moslem divines sought to ascertain which part of the hog was forbidden as food by the Prophet.
Is “to go the whole hog” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.