pig Latin

or Pig Lat·in

[ pig lat-n ]

noun

1. a form of language, used especially by children, that is derived from ordinary English by moving the first consonant or consonant cluster of each word to the end of the word and adding the sound (ā), as in eakspay igpay atinlay for “speak pig Latin.”

Pig Latin

noun

1. a secret language used by children in which any consonants at the beginning of a word are placed at the end, followed by -ay; for example cathedral becomes athedralcay

Word History and Origins

Origin of pig Latin¹

First recorded in 1840–45

Example Sentences

It’s likely that most audience members will understand “vile rat astard-bay” without resorting to a dictionary because pig Latin is still a living language.

From New York Times

As I wrote in Slate eight years ago, “The likelihood of a real computer scientist being fooled by a SCIgen paper is roughly the same as that of a classicist mistaking pig Latin for an undiscovered Cato oration.”

From Slate

We use names, frontward, backward, in pig Latin.

From Seattle Times

And I will see that David Carrino, or @carrino.royale — a new addition to my feed — has deviated from the offbeat beefcake shots he scrounges from the internet slipstream to post a trippy film clip I will Google to identify as Ginger Rogers singing “We’re in the Money,” from “Gold Diggers of 1933,” though in pig Latin.

From New York Times

Anyone who appreciates a good joke would also surely consider Pig Latin a legitimate language, right?

From Salon