hog cholera
- noun
- /hɔg ˈkɒlərə/
- Archaic
:
cólera porcina
- Hog cholera is a serious disease that can cause severe losses for pig farmers due to its high mortality rate.
Examples
-
A vaccine was developed to prevent hog cholera, a disease costing producers more than $100 million a year.
Academic text (2001) -
Along with other ARS research, this test helped lead to the complete eradication of hog cholera in the United States by 1978.
Academic text (2003) -
Symptoms are similar to those of hog cholera, another devastating animal disease that has fortunately been eradicated in the United States.
Academic text (1996) -
A rapid, accurate diagnostic test was developed by ARS in 1963 for hog cholera, which was the most devastating disease of swine in the United States for more than a century.
Academic text (2003) -
The outbreak of hog cholera led to strict quarantine measures to prevent its spread among livestock.
-
Veterinarians regularly monitor farms for signs of hog cholera to ensure the health of the hog population.
Surface Forms
Morphology
hog + cholera
The meaning 'a contagious disease affecting pigs' is directly derivable from combining 'hog' (a pig) with 'cholera' (a disease), yielding an animal-specific disease label. This kind of noun–noun composition naming diseases in specific animals is common and cross-linguistically transparent, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would be able to infer the meaning.
Etymology
Hog cholera comes from farm language: hog means 'pig' and cholera was an old word for a serious stomach illness, so farmers used it to name a deadly pig disease. That's why hog cholera now means 'a very serious contagious disease of pigs'.
