Dogs in the English language

Ever heard about red herrings? Or about white elephants? Or about black sheep?

OK.Fine.

But do you know anything about shaggy dogs?
A shaggy dog story is a story of unconvincing origin, not necessarily to be believed. The origin goes back to a story from the 1800s when a wealthy gentleman lost his beloved dog. The man was heartbroken and advertised extensively in The Times for the return of his valuable companion. An American in New York heard about the story, searched for a pet matching the description, went to London and presented himself at the palatial mansion. A po-faced butler looked down at the dog, bowed, winced and then exclaimed:"But not as shaggy as that ,sir!" (That in itself is a shaggy dog story).

If we are having a dog day or a dog day afternoon, then it is very hot, making us feel lazy and unable to exert ourselves in any way. We can trace the expression to the Romans and the days they called the Canicularis Dies, between 3 July and 11 August, when the dog star Sirius rises at the same time as the sun. According to the Romans these were the hottest days of the year.
Doggone is a favoured term from the American Bible Belt, used to express surprise and as an euphemistic alternative to "God damn it". It derives from one of William Carleton's Farm Ballads (1873) where he used the verse..."They sang about the doggonest thing, a body ever heard".

A dog in a mangeris someone who is not prepared to allow others to benefit from something that they themselves cannot use. The phrase relates to one of Aesop's fables, which tells us a tale about an ox and a dog who were stabled together for the night. Both were starving hungry and the only food available was the hay in the manger. Dogs do not eat hay but the ox was happily tucking in, until the jealous hound began snapping and biting at him. The dog sat in the manger and would not allow the ox to eat, preferring instead to deprive his friend of the hay.

You may find yourself in the doghouse if you are not careful. The expression is applied to a husband/male partner who is unable to behave himself and is held in disgrace. The source of this expression is found in J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan and the character Mr Darling, who is made to live in the dog kennel by his wife.

A dog in the night-time is a phrase we might use to describe someone who has unwittingly involved themselves in a crime. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle invented the dog in question when he published the Sherlock Holmes adventure "Silver Blaze" in 1892. In the story, the family dog would not bark during the night when horses were being stolen from the stable, because he knew the thief.

Expressions in all the languages I know have always fascinated me. If you want to know more about expressions in the English language buy a copy of the book titled "Red Herrings and White Elephants" or the second book called "Shaggy Dogs and Black Sheep", both by Albert Jack.

BENIMELI

Over the last few weeks we have had quite a few dog days. Slowly the temperatures are coming down. I nevertheless prefer to walk once more in the evening instead of in the morning. My oldies are very glad I do this, as we could see last Sunday evening. I do not want to turn them into shaggy dogs.
This coming Sunday 11.09.2011 I will walk in Benimeli.I will wait for you at the bar in front of the church till 19.30. As you can see, we will start an hour earlier than last Sunday.

See you there.

Bruno