As I sit here surfing the web and the television at the same time I thought I would pop in and ponder on screen about a phrase I just heard someone utter on a channel I surfed by a few moments ago. I heard this character in whatever show it was claim that they were "sick as a dog" and as I continued my simultaneous T.V./Web surfing I began to wonder why it is that we use that phrase.
I know that "dog" has long been used in a negative or bad sense (like in "dog days," "dog tired," etc.), but why do people say "sick as a dog" and just why is dog used in this negative sense? I thought dogs were supposed to be man's best friend?
This just doesn't seem right. Given their devotion to us, I think dogs have gotten a bad reputation. "Dogs of war," "going to the dogs," "hair of the dog that bit you," "dog in the manger" and the like, are hardly compliments to our canine buddies.
"Sick as a dog," which, to me, means "extremely sick," may not be so much a negative expression, I guess, but is maybe meant to be more descriptive in nature.
I would think that anyone who has or knows dogs knows that while they can and often will eat absolutely anything (and I mean anything!), there are times when their diet disagrees with them and the results can be quite dramatic.
Now, while Americans may consider themselves "sick" when they have a bad cold, in Britain that would be called "feeling ill." "Being sick" in Britain usually means "to vomit." (Isn't it amazing what you can remember from reading some book over ten years ago!)
So, to really appreciate the original sense of being "sick as a dog," I think you would have to imagine yourself seated in the (to be said dramatically, in an upper class British accent) parlor having tea with the Vicar on a lovely Sunday afternoon, (switch back to regular voice) when Fido staggers in from a meal of sun-dried woodchuck and expresses his digestive upset all over your heirloom oriental carpet.
So, Here's To Our Health,
(and to the health of our beloved animal companions),
~harvestorm
I know that "dog" has long been used in a negative or bad sense (like in "dog days," "dog tired," etc.), but why do people say "sick as a dog" and just why is dog used in this negative sense? I thought dogs were supposed to be man's best friend?
This just doesn't seem right. Given their devotion to us, I think dogs have gotten a bad reputation. "Dogs of war," "going to the dogs," "hair of the dog that bit you," "dog in the manger" and the like, are hardly compliments to our canine buddies.
"Sick as a dog," which, to me, means "extremely sick," may not be so much a negative expression, I guess, but is maybe meant to be more descriptive in nature.
I would think that anyone who has or knows dogs knows that while they can and often will eat absolutely anything (and I mean anything!), there are times when their diet disagrees with them and the results can be quite dramatic.
Now, while Americans may consider themselves "sick" when they have a bad cold, in Britain that would be called "feeling ill." "Being sick" in Britain usually means "to vomit." (Isn't it amazing what you can remember from reading some book over ten years ago!)
So, to really appreciate the original sense of being "sick as a dog," I think you would have to imagine yourself seated in the (to be said dramatically, in an upper class British accent) parlor having tea with the Vicar on a lovely Sunday afternoon, (switch back to regular voice) when Fido staggers in from a meal of sun-dried woodchuck and expresses his digestive upset all over your heirloom oriental carpet.
So, Here's To Our Health,
(and to the health of our beloved animal companions),
~harvestorm
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