what does "living high on the hog" mean?

Question

i know it means living large but where is its origin?

Answer 1

Taking P M's answer a bit further. In the south during the slavery days only the poor got the lesser cuts or scraps of the hog. The wealthy whites got the better cuts. So when the rare occurance of a poor person getting the luxury of the better meat occured it was refered to as "living high on the hog".

Answer 2

It refers to butchering. Things like hams and back bacon -- traditionally the meatiest parts -- are found high on the animal, where as the cheap, fatty cuts, like pork bellies and ham hocks are found lower.