when the pig is proffered, hold up the poke
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Inspect carefully before accepting something offered
Literally: examine the bag when a pig is offered
Examples
When the pig is proffered, hold up the poke, don't just grab it
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed on English Wikiquote “English proverbs” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31). Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “when the pig is proffered, hold up the poke” mean?
Inspect carefully before accepting something offered Literally: examine the bag when a pig is offered
Is “when the pig is proffered, hold up the poke” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.