tantony pig

plural tantony pigs

1. obsoleteslangThe favourite or smallest pig in the litter.

   And to follow the delicious breeze like a tantony pig .

   1935, Wystan Hugh Auden, O What Is That Sound Which So Thrills The Ear

   3 more examples

   I'm not going to tankety-tankety after his tail, like a Tantony pig any more.

   1838, Benjamin Webster, Acting National Drama

   This system (which had the disadvantage of discouraging good farming, since the worst animal — the 'Tantony pig' — counted for as much as the best) was only applicable when the court was in constant progress.

   1984, Richard Fitzneale, Dialogus De Scaccario: The Course of the Exchequer and Constitutio Domus Regis (the Establishment of the Royal Household)

   2002, Murray J Levith, Shakespeare's Merchant and Marlowe's Other Play in The Merchant of Venice: Critical Essays, ed John Mahon, Ellen MacLeod Mahon A “Tantony pig” is the smallest of a litter, a detail that might recall Antonio's description of himself in Shakespeare's play as the “tainted wether of the flock".

   Synonyms: Anthony pig, tantony, Anthony