English idioms about dogs

C

Cognitivist-to-become

Member
Warszawa
Polish
Hello,
I am writing a term paper and I really need the help of native speakers and your intuition :)
1. what emotions does the concept of a dog evoke in you? the scale is between -5 and 5 where 5= very positive.
2. what idiomatic and slang expressions do you have that are connected with dogs (of course I have already found some in dictionaries but maybe there are more of them)

Thank you for your help
 
    • L

    la reine victoria

    Banned
    Relaxing at Osborne, Isle of Wight
    England, English
    Cognitivist-to-become said:
    Hello,
    I am writing a term paper and I really need the help of native speakers and your intuition :)
    1. what emotions does the concept of a dog evoke in you? the scale is between -5 and 5 where 5= very positive.
    2. what idiomatic and slang expressions do you have that are connected with dogs (of course I have already found some in dictionaries but maybe there are more of them)

    Thank you for your help
    Click to expand...

    Hi C-t-b,

    On my scale is a reading of 5.

    Like a dog with two tails - very happy.
    His bark is worse than his bite - a person isn't as bad as he appears.
    With his tail between his legs - a dejected person.
    Man's best friend - a dog will never let you down.
    A faithful companion - a dog will always be true to you.

    LRV
     
    D

    dn88

    Senior Member
    Polish
    If you want some sayings and other idiomatic phrases with dogs, read this:

    Sayings:
    You can't teach an old dog new tricks.
    Give a dog a bad name.
    Love me, love my dog.
    Every dog has its day.
    Why keep a dog and bark yourself?

    Idiomatic phrases:
    dog-eat-dog (e.g. existence)
    tail wagging the dog
    see a man about a dog
    raining cats and dogs

    They are not necessarily connected with the dog itself, some of them just include the word "dog" (actually they do not relate to dogs' nature, especially these idioms). Well, there are probably plenty of them, I only gave you some examples. Any contribution?
     
    D

    dn88

    Senior Member
    Polish
    "give a dog a bad name" means that if someone has behaved badly in the past, people will expect them to do the same way in the future. It's hard to change their bad reputation.

    "love me, love my dog" can be used when you want someone to accept all of your vices as well as your good qualities.

    Their origin? Well, I'm rather curious about the origin of "raining cats and dogs" :D
     
    C

    Cognitivist-to-become

    Member
    Warszawa
    Polish
    Oh, there are numerous interesting hypotheses: look what I have found:
    1. in England cats and dogs used to sit on the roofs. when it rained, it got slippery abd they would slide off the roof.
    2.people used to throw dead animals on the streets; when it was raining, they would float down the streets
    3. alusions to Norse mythology: cats represented wind and dogs- rain...

    could some more native speakers help me? tell me your intuitions and the phrases you know, please...
     
    cuchuflete

    cuchuflete

    Senior Member
    Maine, EEUU
    EEUU-inglés
    We will need a BE speaker to help us with the etymology, and the nuances, but you will
    hear speakers of the BE variant of English say "the dogs bollocks". I've heard a variation as well: "the mutt's nuts".
     
    N

    Nelson Drake

    Banned
    England
    If something is 'the dogs bollocks', it is something that one is inordinately proud of. (Bollock is a testicle) 'Dog's Bollock Syndrome' can be used to describe an excessive use of technology or visual aid, such as in an enormous use of Flash animations on a website. It is derived from following riddle: "Q: Why do dogs lick their bollocks? A: Because they can". In a technological context, the question could be "Why has the web developer included a three-minute animated intro to this page?", prompting the answer: "Dog's Bollock Syndrome, Mate. Because he can".
     
    C

    Cognitivist-to-become

    Member
    Warszawa
    Polish
    And what are your connotations, emotions, what feelings do you have when hearing the word: "dog"? I know this question may seem strange, but it really has a point.
    what score between -5 and 5? Anyone?
     
    Suehil

    Suehil

    Medemod
    Tillou, France
    British English
    A few more ..
    Let sleeping dogs lie (If you wake it up, it might bite, e.g. If you haven't had a tax demand, don't ring up and ask about it)
    It's a dog's life (A dreadful life. Definitely not true in our house)
    Fight like cat and dog (Also not true in our house)

    Oh yes. Definitely +5

    To dog someone's footsteps
     
    cuchuflete

    cuchuflete

    Senior Member
    Maine, EEUU
    EEUU-inglés
    Cognitivist-to-become said:
    And what are your connotations, emotions, what feelings do you have when hearing the word: "dog"? I know this question may seem strange, but it really has a point.
    what score between -5 and 5? Anyone?
    Click to expand...

    No doubt the scoring has a point, but this forum is dedicated to the discussion of English usage.

    Past attempts at research and school assignments that rate words have been a dismal failure.
    This is really not the place for them.
     
    D

    dn88

    Senior Member
    Polish
    Two more...
    sick as a dog (vomiting a lot and very sick, usually after eating bad food)
    go to the dogs (go to ruin)
    I give 5 :)
     
    JamesM

    JamesM

    Senior Member
    Los Angeles, California
    English, USA
    If I'm repeating, I apologize. I've checked the previous posts and haven't seen these:

    Make a dog's breakfast of something. (Really mess things up, make a big mistake, or make a mess, literally)
    The dog days of summer (the hottest days of the year)
    Dog-and-pony show (flashy presentation with little content, usually; designed to impress, not inform)
    The hair of the dog that bit you. (a small alcoholic drink to stave off a hangover)
    That dog won't hunt. (An unsuccessful proposal, theory, or hypothesis)
    If you can't run with the big dogs, stay on the porch. (If you're not up to the level of effort or commitment, stay out of the process)
    Call off your dogs! (Give me a break! Stop "hounding" me about this, especially if the perpetrator has enlisted other people's help)
    Dog in the manger (someone who isn't using something, but won't let anyone else use it, either)
     
    D

    dn88

    Senior Member
    Polish
    One more:
    put on the dog (act as though you're more important than you really are)
    I believe it's mainly used in the US. Am I right, native speakers? :)
     
    JamesM

    JamesM

    Senior Member
    Los Angeles, California
    English, USA
    dn88 said:
    One more:
    put on the dog (act as though you're more important than you really are)
    I believe it's mainly used in the US. Am I right, native speakers? :)
    Click to expand...

    "putting on airs" would be acting more important than you really are. "Putting on the dog", to me, means dressing up, getting "gussied up" for an occasion. I guess it can also mean a flashy show of money, such as renting a limousine to go to dinner at a local restaurant, but I don't think of it as acting more important than you really are; it's more like acting richer than you are. :)
     
    Thomas1

    Thomas1

    Senior Member
    polszczyzna warszawska
    cuchuflete said:
    The politically kerrect are instructed to skip this one-

    S/he's a real dog! (a car or a man or woman is very unattractive to you.)
    Click to expand...
    Is it used by everyone or it's rather prevalent within a certain group of people if you were to precise their age?
    I'd also like to find out if this may sound old-fashioned in some circles.

    Tom
     
    O

    Orange Blossom

    Senior Member
    U.S.A. English
    I've heard "You dogged me." The speaker was very upset at the person she was speaking to. I don't know what it means as the speakers were using a cultural dialect I'm not too familiar with.
    -------------
    Also<

    doggone it
    I'm dog-tired

    Orange Blossom
     
    cuchuflete

    cuchuflete

    Senior Member
    Maine, EEUU
    EEUU-inglés
    Thomas1 said:
    Is it used by everyone or it's rather prevalent within a certain group of people if you were to precise their age?
    I'd also like to find out if this may sound old-fashioned in some circles.

    Tom
    Click to expand...

    Hi Tom,

    From the quantity and style of the numerous entries in the Urban Dictionary, I would say that
    this is still a common expression among younger people. I am not a younger person, and so would
    more likely use it in reference to a bad automobile than to a person.
     
    lizzeymac

    lizzeymac

    Senior Member
    New York City
    English - USA
    Nelson Drake said:
    If something is 'the dogs bollocks', it is something that one is inordinately proud of. (Bollock is a testicle) 'Dog's Bollock Syndrome' can be used to describe an excessive use of technology or visual aid, such as in an enormous use of Flash animations on a website. It is derived from following riddle: "Q: Why do dogs lick their bollocks? A: Because they can". In a technological context, the question could be "Why has the web developer included a three-minute animated intro to this page?", prompting the answer: "Dog's Bollock Syndrome, Mate. Because he can".
    Click to expand...

    That's marvellous-
    Thanks
     
    JamesM

    JamesM

    Senior Member
    Los Angeles, California
    English, USA
    Orange Blossom said:
    I've heard "You dogged me." The speaker was very upset at the person she was speaking to. I don't know what it means as the speakers were using a cultural dialect I'm not too familiar with.
    -------------
    Click to expand...


    "You dogged me" is a newer phrase, in my experience, and it means the same as "you put me down" or "you made me look bad", as far as I know.
     
    D

    Dimcl

    Senior Member
    British Columbia, Canada
    Canadian English
    My apologies if someone's already mentioned this but here's one that my Dad uses all the time:

    "My dogs are barking" which means "My feet are sore".

    Dad is the only one I've ever heard use this but he says it used to be a common expression - has anyone else heard it?
     
    mrbilal87

    mrbilal87

    Senior Member
    English (NAmE)
    Dimcl said:
    My apologies if someone's already mentioned this but here's one that my Dad uses all the time:

    "My dogs are barking" which means "My feet are sore".

    Dad is the only one I've ever heard use this but he says it used to be a common expression - has anyone else heard it?
    Click to expand...

    I've heard it only on a sitcom that I can't remember the name of. They would say "My dogs are barking" or, if you will - to intensify the soreness - "my dogs are howling".
     
    T

    Thomas Tompion

    Member Emeritus
    Southern England
    English - England
    JamesM said:
    "You dogged me" is a newer phrase, in my experience, and it means the same as "you put me down" or "you made me look bad", as far as I know.
    Click to expand...

    This is clearly different then from the common you dogged me, for you followed me, you dogged my footsteps.

    How about dogged, in the sense of stubborn or tenacious? The thread is getting long, but I haven't seen it mentioned.

    Don't you think the dog's bollocks is just a wilful variant of the bee's roller-skates, or the cat's pyjamas; Panj's link suggested it was probably invented by some journalists.
     
    R

    river

    Senior Member
    U.S. English
    "Dog days" refers to the hot and humid summer weather that occurs in July and August. The ancients thought the heat was caused by Sirius, the Dog Star (located in Canis Major, The Great Dog) which rises and sets with the sun during late summer.
     
    V

    vachecow

    Senior Member
    Pennsylvania
    USA English
    A dog's age means a long time. It comes from the idea of dog years. This simply means that someone compared the average life expectancy of a dog to that of a human, and figured out that on average a human lives like 7 years per each year a dog will live on average. So, you could say that a two year old dog is 14 in dog years.

    http://www.onlineconversion.com/dogyears.htm
     
    O

    Orange Blossom

    Senior Member
    U.S.A. English
    Faithful as a hound. <-- a hound is a kind of dog
    follows him/her like a dog
    looked at him/her with puppy eyes <-- implies begging or pleading

    JamesM said:
    "You dogged me" is a newer phrase, in my experience, and it means the same as "you put me down" or "you made me look bad", as far as I know.
    Click to expand...

    I suspect, not absolutely certain, that this was the meaning intended by the speaker I heard. A couple of university students, women, were talking, and one was really chewing the other one out when she said "you dogged me" several times in the conversation. This was about 23 years ago. I know they had just come back from what was supposed to be an enjoyable evening out with several people.

    Orange Blossom
     
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