Tag Archives: word origins

Tuesday’s Top Ten: Dog-Related Expressions

 

Have you ever wondered why so many expressions, particularly so many negative expressions, are related to dogs?  There are easily 10 times more expressions about dogs than about any other animal.  Linguistic experts say the negative expressions reflect the fact that dogs used to be used for hard work:  hunting, herding, exterminating, and the like.  It is hard to imagine this, given the culture today of treating dogs as pampered pets and members of the family.  With that introduction, here is a list of the top ten dog-related expressions and their origins.

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