hog waller
A muddy hog wallow, or any messy backwoods spot.
Also called hog wallow, hawg waller, hogwaller.
Updated September 24, 2026
hog waller pronunciation
/HAWG WAH-ler/
Meaning
Literally the wet mud pit where hogs roll to cool off. Country talk stretches it to any muddy yard, low place, or out-of-the-way hollow that looks about as inviting as a pig pen. "Waller" is just wallow said the Southern way.
How folks use it
- “Watch your step out back. That's the hog waller by the barn.”
- “They live way out in some little hog waller past the creek.”
Origin and etymology
From hog wallow, the depression hogs make by rolling in mud. Southern and Appalachian speech turns wallow into waller. Place names and markets (like Lenoir, North Carolina's old Hog Waller) show how common the phrase got. By the early 1900s it also worked as slang for a poor rural spot.
Frequently asked questions
Is waller a misspelling?
No. It is the dialect sound of wallow. That is how a lot of Southern mouths say it.