It ’s almost a religious rite of passage during childhood : rise atop an older person ’s back for apiggyback ridearound the house or yard . But if you bar to speculate the name of this biz — piggyback ride — you ’re probable to be puzzled . Because citizenry do n’t typically depend on on the backs ofpigs , even if they ’re tough , 500 - pounding ( 227 - kilogram ) sows .
The inception of the word " piggyback " stretch back to themid-16th C , when multitude carried various goods on their back or the backs of their animals . The terminal figure for this praxis back then was " pick pack , " since you picked up a large number and put it on your back . As so often is the case with language , " peck pack " morphed over the long time . First it became the almost - very " pick - a - pack , " and then " pick - a - back , " since the multitude picked went on someone ’s back .
thing get a little murkier from here . Some say " blame - a - back " — which was the edition in use by the 18th century — sounded like " foot - i - back " or " picky back , " which finally became " piggyback . " Others say that by the 18th century people were confused by the " cull - a " percentage of " pluck - a - back , " and so alter it to a word they were conversant with that sounded similar : shote . This is a language process calledfolk etymology .
While no one knows for sure whether masses in Britain or North America were the first to use the term " piggyback , " the term"pig - a - back " was usedin " A Dialogue in the Devonshire accent " published in 1837 and " piggy - back " was being used in the U.S. by the 1880s .
Other Uses of “Piggyback”
Today , " piggyback " is used in awide diversity of contexts , not just for giving child rides on your back . One of the most popular comes in the field of battle of transferral , where piggybacking means something rid on top of something else , such as cable car being transported on a train ’s flatbed . It ’s also used in thetrucking industryto denote a drone that is cart up to four more trucks in a chain . Each hand truck ’s front is mounted to a hitch , while the rear cycle touch the ground .
Inastrophotography , piggyback describes the practice ofattaching a photographic camera to a scope , then scud photos through the camera electron lens , rather than the scope . In the music world , drummer often employcymbal piggybackingby mounting two or more cymbals on the same stand . The supererogatory , little cymbal give drummer the opportunity to create extra look and speech sound .
Health care supplier can createintravenous piggyback , where a smaller , secondary IV traveling bag is connect to the primary line . The piggybacked bag is used for intermittent treatment , while the piggyback band - up allows the affected role to avoid a second IV site . Andpiggybacking creditrefers to the practice of becoming an authoritative user on the credit menu write up of a person with a secure credit military rank , which can help you base credit or up your credit mark .