In case you haven’t noticed, PigSpigot is an unusual name for a greeting card company. Mainly, that’s because we are an unusual greeting card company, one that puts creative power directly in the hands of our users. But if we were simply going for weirdness, the company could easily have been called “Assorted Jorts” or “The Situation Room.”
We’re not just weird; we’re also suckers for some nerdy word play. That’s why we own a copy of The Joy of Lex and email each other hilarious malapropisms (”I’m your density!”) and spoonersisms (”That’s nuckin’ futs!”).
Richard Wilbur, the former Poet Laureate (who in no way is connected to this site), wrote one of our favorite wordplay books, The Pig in the Spigot, which inspired our name. The whole book consists of poems about words within words, like the one about the gnat in indignation. Here’s the passage we liked best:
When there’s a pig inside your spigot, you
Must not cry out, “There’s nothing I can do!”
Be sensible, and take the obvious course,
Which is to turn the spigot on full force.
Sufficient water pressure will, I think,
Oblige the pig to flow into the sink.
You guys are the water pressure, we’re the spigot, and the pigs are the cards you shoot out around the world spreading happiness. Got it?
Keep on plumbing!
Love,
The Pig