As it happens, pigs don’t sweat much, so they wallow in the mud to cool off their bodies. So how did the English language expression “sweating like a pig” develop?
Sweating Like a Pig … is actually a reference to pig iron, which is a form of iron smelting:
When pig iron is originally created from iron ore, the smelter needs to heat the ore to extreme temperatures, and then move the liquid metal into the mold. Until the liquid cools, it can’t be safely moved, as the extremely hot metal is liable to spill, burning whatever it comes in contact with.
The smelter can tell when the metal is cool enough to transport when the “pigs” “sweat.” As the metal cools, the air around it reaches the dew point, causing droplets to form on the metal’s surface.
So there you are there’s no ‘little piggys’ involved in “sweating like a pig” !
