Kenneth G. Wilson (1923–). The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993.
pidgin, pigeon (nn.)
These homophones have very different meanings: a pidgin is a special language, using some of the grammar of one language with a vocabulary mainly from one or more other languages; it is never the native language of its speakers but is used as a means of communication for people who have no other language in common. A pigeon is a kind of dove whose sometimes foolishly fearless behavior has given the word a figurative slang use as a name for the naive victim of a confidence trickster or other cheat.
