the other white meat

English

Etymology

From a slogan used by the National Pork Board to promote the sale of pork in the United States in the 1980s. Although some cuts are lighter, pork is typically classified as red meat. The horror sense emerged from the use of long pork as a euphemism for human meat (this coinage being based on its reputedly pork-like taste).

Noun

the other white meat (uncountable)

1. Pork.
   • 1987, Working Mother, page 199:

     If you think you have to serve fish or fowl to get the light, wholesome nutrition and easy convenience that today's lifestyles demand, take a fresh look at pork — the other white meat.

   • 2002, Tony Parra, The Burger Joint, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 104:

     You can't go wrong with pork, it's the other white meat you know.”

   • 2012, Grit Magazine, Lard: The Lost Art of Cooking with Your Grandmother's Secret Ingredient, Andrews McMeel Publishing, →ISBN:

     Most of the lard available at the grocery store is a by-product of the “other white meat,” lean pig, bred to meet demand when pork took the fall.

   • 2013, Berlin Reed, The Ethical Butcher: How Thoughtful Eating Can Change Your World, Soft Skull Press, →ISBN, page 253:

     Whenever you come across a heritage breed pig, do yourself a favor and find a way to have a taste. It'll prove why pork is most thankfully not the other white meat.

2. (horror) Human flesh.
   • 1999, White Wolf, White Wolf Games Studio, Mind's Eye Theatre Journal, White Wolf Pub, →ISBN:

     A normal human corpse is considered to have three servings of " the other white meat.

   • 2015, Rachel Lynn, Women of the Night: Seven Supernaturally Charged Short Stories, Bast & Rune, page 1:

     Looking down I saw they were covered in blood, not sweet honey barbecue sauce and that chicken wing I was gnawing on was the other white meat.

   • 2018, Allie Ritch, Vampire Territory Box Set Volume 1:: Vampire Territory, Allie Ritch, →ISBN:

     Amusement glimmered in Kody's eyes, and he made a show of licking his right fang. “Humans, the other white meat.”

Synonyms

• (human flesh): long pig, long pork, man-meat

Translations

human flesh — see long pig