Meaning
A reef fish with a long, pig-like snout it uses to root in the sand for shellfish — hence the name. It has firm, white, sweet flesh and is well regarded for eating, fried whole or steamed, and a good hog-fish is a prized catch from the reef, sold fresh at the fish beach and the seaside stall. One of the many named eating fish of the Jamaican coast, it belongs with the snapper, the goat-fish, and the parrot-fish among the reef fish that fill the fisherman's canoe and the fry-fish plate.
Examples
-
Him bring een a nice hog-fish.
He brought in a nice hogfish.
-
Hog-fish sweet an white.
Hogfish is sweet and white-fleshed.
-
Steam di hog-fish wid okra.
Steam the hogfish with okra.
Origin
Named for its pig-like rooting snout; a reef food fish. See [[grouper]], [[parrot-fish]].
How it’s used
A sweet white-fleshed reef fish with a snout. See [[grouper]], [[parrot-fish]].