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special pigeon

Stoggler

Senior Member
English
Watching Brief Encounter the other evening I swear I heard one of the main characters (Alex Harvey, played by Trevor Howard) refer to an interest of his as a "special pigeon" (although I may have misheard).

Is anyone familiar with this phrase at all? Is it synonomous with hobby-horse or pet subject? Is it dated (the film was made in 1945 in Britain)?

Thanks
Thanks for the response velisarius - makes perfect sense (his special pigeon then was pulmonary diseases caused by industrial methods).

I wonder what the origin of that phrase is?
It's not such an unusual term; we also say "that's your pigeon" (that's your responsibility).
We do...? Another new one on me then!

Thanks
Believe it or not, it's the only definition for pigeon in the WF dictionary!

pigeon /ˈpɪdʒɪn/n
  • brit informal concern or responsibility (often in the phrase it's his, her, etc, pigeon)
Etymology: 19th Century: altered from pidgin



This is probably a re-spelled descendent of the term pidgin, allegedly a 19th century Chinese attempt to pronounce the English word business.

(The word is best known in the form pidgin English ("business English"). Pidgin which has been generalized by linguists as a term of art for any trade language.)
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