/ · 1894 Brewer’s · G · Guineapig (A)
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
A midshipman. A guineapig is neither a pig nor a native of Guinea; so a middy is neither a sailor nor an officer.
“He had a letter from the captain of the Indiaman, offering you a berth on board as guineapig, or midshipman.”—Captain Marryat: Poor Jack, chap. xxxi.
⁂ A special juryman who is paid a guinea a case: also a military officer assigned to some special duty, for which he receives a guinea a day, are sometimes so called.
· ·
Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.
· 
· 