Here are some unusual words you’ll hear during the performance:
Appalling: awful. It’s raining during the sheep-trials and everyone’s wet and miserable outside. How appalling!
‘bain’t: am not. I ‘bain’t’ so stupid as I look!
Black pudding: a type of sausage made from oatmeal and pig’s blood. Black pudding is part of a traditional Irish breakfast.
Blimey!: an expression of surprise. When the puppies meet Babe, they are so surprised that one of them says blimey! Instead of ‘holy cow!’
Chitterlings: a type of food made from the insides of a pig. Mrs. Hogget is excited about cooking up some bacon and chitterlings.
Cockerel: another word for rooster, a male chicken. The cockerel crows at dawn and wakes everybody up on the farm.
Daft: another word for stupid. Before Fly realizes that sheep are smart, she thinks they are daft.
Disqualified: removed from competing in a contest. The officials might have disqualified Babe for not being a dog.
Distressed: upset. When the rustlers tried to kidnap them, the sheep were very distressed.
Ewe: a female sheep. Ma is a ewe.
Fathom: understand. Mrs. Hogget can not fathom why Hogget has bothered to enter the sheep-herding competition.
Foot-rot: happens when a sheep’s hoof gets infected. Ma gets sick with a cough, and to make matters worse, she also gets foot-rot.
Hiatus: a short break. When the competition officials see Babe on the field, they take a short hiatus to figure out whether they will allow a pig to herd sheep.
Land Rover: a type of truck that is useful on a farm. Farmer Hogget drives a Land Rover over the hills and valleys when his sheep are out in the field grazing.
Mutton: the meat that comes from a grown-up sheep. Mrs. Hogget probably won’t serve mutton for Christmas dinner since she doesn’t like the taste.
Out-of-puff: out of breath. Mrs. Hogget might be out-of-puff after running up and down the stairs.
Ring: to call on the phone. Farmer Hogget might not know how to use his cell phone very well, but that doesn’t stop Mrs. Hogget from ringing him up!
Rustler: a rustler is someone who steals farm animals. The rustlers sneak into the farm to try to steal Farmer Hogget’s sheep.
Shan’t: won’t, or shall we not? Mrs. Hogget is planning to make a big Christmas dinner and might invite us! We shall go, shan’t we?
Shedding: separating some sheep from the others. During the competition, Babe has to shed four sheep from the group.
Sheep-dog: a dog that has been raised specifically to herd sheep. Border Collies and Australian Shepherds are two types of sheep-dogs.
Sheep-worriers: wild dogs that attack sheep. Sadly, Ma is killed by a sheep-worrier.
Sheep-trials: competitions in which a farmer and his dog herd sheep around a field. Farmer Hogget and Fly used to compete in Sheep-trials together when Fly was younger.
Telly: a nickname for television. Mrs. Hogget likes to watch the telly—what’s your favorite tv show?
Tidbits: tasty pieces of food. Sometimes we give our pets tasty tidbits from the dinner table!
Trotters: pig feet. Sometimes people like to cook and eat trotters when they run out of bacon.
Unprecedented: describing something that is a surprise because it has never happened before. A pig winning a sheep-herding contest is completely unprecedented.
Vicar: a type of priest. The vicar from the village church is leading the weight-guessing competition at the fair.
Appalling: awful. It’s raining during the sheep-trials and everyone’s wet and miserable outside. How appalling!
‘bain’t: am not. I ‘bain’t’ so stupid as I look!
Black pudding: a type of sausage made from oatmeal and pig’s blood. Black pudding is part of a traditional Irish breakfast.
Blimey!: an expression of surprise. When the puppies meet Babe, they are so surprised that one of them says blimey! Instead of ‘holy cow!’
Chitterlings: a type of food made from the insides of a pig. Mrs. Hogget is excited about cooking up some bacon and chitterlings.
Cockerel: another word for rooster, a male chicken. The cockerel crows at dawn and wakes everybody up on the farm.
Daft: another word for stupid. Before Fly realizes that sheep are smart, she thinks they are daft.
Disqualified: removed from competing in a contest. The officials might have disqualified Babe for not being a dog.
Distressed: upset. When the rustlers tried to kidnap them, the sheep were very distressed.
Ewe: a female sheep. Ma is a ewe.
Fathom: understand. Mrs. Hogget can not fathom why Hogget has bothered to enter the sheep-herding competition.
Foot-rot: happens when a sheep’s hoof gets infected. Ma gets sick with a cough, and to make matters worse, she also gets foot-rot.
Hiatus: a short break. When the competition officials see Babe on the field, they take a short hiatus to figure out whether they will allow a pig to herd sheep.
Land Rover: a type of truck that is useful on a farm. Farmer Hogget drives a Land Rover over the hills and valleys when his sheep are out in the field grazing.
Mutton: the meat that comes from a grown-up sheep. Mrs. Hogget probably won’t serve mutton for Christmas dinner since she doesn’t like the taste.
Out-of-puff: out of breath. Mrs. Hogget might be out-of-puff after running up and down the stairs.
Ring: to call on the phone. Farmer Hogget might not know how to use his cell phone very well, but that doesn’t stop Mrs. Hogget from ringing him up!
Rustler: a rustler is someone who steals farm animals. The rustlers sneak into the farm to try to steal Farmer Hogget’s sheep.
Shan’t: won’t, or shall we not? Mrs. Hogget is planning to make a big Christmas dinner and might invite us! We shall go, shan’t we?
Shedding: separating some sheep from the others. During the competition, Babe has to shed four sheep from the group.
Sheep-dog: a dog that has been raised specifically to herd sheep. Border Collies and Australian Shepherds are two types of sheep-dogs.
Sheep-worriers: wild dogs that attack sheep. Sadly, Ma is killed by a sheep-worrier.
Sheep-trials: competitions in which a farmer and his dog herd sheep around a field. Farmer Hogget and Fly used to compete in Sheep-trials together when Fly was younger.
Telly: a nickname for television. Mrs. Hogget likes to watch the telly—what’s your favorite tv show?
Tidbits: tasty pieces of food. Sometimes we give our pets tasty tidbits from the dinner table!
Trotters: pig feet. Sometimes people like to cook and eat trotters when they run out of bacon.
Unprecedented: describing something that is a surprise because it has never happened before. A pig winning a sheep-herding contest is completely unprecedented.
Vicar: a type of priest. The vicar from the village church is leading the weight-guessing competition at the fair.