What is "porgy"

Scup \Scup\, n. [Contr. fr. American Indian mishc[`u]p, fr. mishe-kuppi large, thick-scaled.] (Zo["o]l.) A marine sparoid food fish ( Stenotomus chrysops, or S. argyrops), common on the Atlantic coast of the United States. It appears bright silvery when swimming in the daytime, but shows broad blackish transverse bands at night and when dead. Called also porgee, paugy, porgy, scuppaug.

Note: The same names are also applied to a closely allied Southern species ( Stenotomus Gardeni).

Spadefish \Spade"fish`\ (sp[=a]d"f[i^]sh`), n. (Zo["o]l.) An American market fish ( Ch[ae]todipterus faber) common on the southern coasts; -- called also angel fish, moonfish, and porgy.

Sailor \Sail"or\, n. One who follows the business of navigating ships or other vessels; one who understands the practical management of ships; one of the crew of a vessel; a mariner; a common seaman. Syn: Mariner; seaman; seafarer. Sailor's choice. (Zo["o]l.)

1. An excellent marine food fish ( Diplodus rhomboides, syn. Lagodon rhomboides) of the Southern United States; -- called also porgy, squirrel fish, yellowtail, and salt-water bream.

2. A species of grunt ( Orthopristis chrysopterus syn. Pomadasys chrysopterus), an excellent food fish common on the southern coasts of the United States; -- called also hogfish, and pigfish.

name given to various sea fishes, 1725, probably from pargo "sea bream" (1550s), from Spanish or Portuguese pargo, from Latin phagrum (nom. phager), from Greek phagros "sea bream."

n. 1 Any of several fish of the family Sparidae; the sea bream. 2 # In particular, the scup (paugie).

1. n. lean flesh of fish found in warm waters of southern Atlantic coast of the United States [syn: scup]

2. important deep-bodied food and sport fish of warm and tropical coastal waters; found worldwide

Porgy is a novel written by the American author DuBose Heyward and published by the George H. Doran Company in 1925.

The novel tells the story of Porgy, a crippled street-beggar in the black tenements of Charleston, South Carolina, in the 1920s. The character was based on the real-life Charlestonian Samuel Smalls. Some passages in the novel have the characters speaking in the Gullah language.

The novel was adapted for a 1927 play by Heyward and his wife, playwright Dorothy Heyward. Even before the play had been fully written, Heyward was in discussions with George Gershwin for an operatic version of his novel, which appeared in 1935 as Porgy and Bess (renamed to distinguish it from the play).

Porgy may refer to:

• Porgy (novel), a 1925 novel by DuBose Heyward
• Porgy (play), a 1927 play by Dorothy Heyward and DuBose Heyward, from his novel
• Porgy (fish), the common name used in the United States for fishes in the family Sparidae
• Porgy Key, a small island in the Florida Keys

Porgy: A Play in Four Acts is a play by Dorothy Heyward and DuBose Heyward, adapted from the short novel by DuBose Heyward. It was first produced by the Theatre Guild and presented October 10, 1927–August 1928 at the Guild Theatre in New York City. Featuring a cast of African Americans at the insistence of its authors—a decision unusual for its time—the original production starred Frank Wilson, Evelyn Ellis, Jack Carter and Rose McClendon. Porgy marked the Broadway directing debut of Rouben Mamoulian. The play ran a total of 55 weeks in New York, and the original cast toured the United States twice and performed for 11 consecutive weeks in London.

The play tells the story of Porgy, a disabled black beggar who lives in the slums of Charleston, South Carolina. It relates his efforts to rescue Bess, the woman he loves, from Crown, her violent and possessive lover, and a drug dealer called Sporting Life.

The play is the basis of the libretto of the opera Porgy and Bess (1935).

Porgy is the second studio album by When People Were Shorter and Lived Near the Water, released in 1991 by Shimmy Disc.