‘the night’s (only) a pup’: meaning and origin
colloquial, Australia, 1910—‘the night’s (only) a pup’, or ‘the day’s (only) a pup’, means the night, or the day, is young—refers to ‘pup’ in the sense of a young dog
Read Morecolloquial, Australia, 1910—‘the night’s (only) a pup’, or ‘the day’s (only) a pup’, means the night, or the day, is young—refers to ‘pup’ in the sense of a young dog
Read More1950—used of a substance causing death or illness, and by extension of something powerful or disastrous—refers to red kelpie sheep dogs, who can ingest anything
Read MoreUK, 1993—a person, usually a man, regarded as friendless—often used as a humorous surname following a generic first name such as ‘Billy’
Read Morefar-fetched excuse for failing to hand in school homework—1st recorded UK 1929 but had already long been in usage at that time—dog eating a sermon UK 1894
Read MoreUK, 1980s—the very best—perhaps from ‘it sticks out like a dog’s ballocks’, denoting something obvious, hence someone or something that sticks out from the rest
Read MoreUK, 1988—used in similes to denote something that protrudes—originated in British military slang
Read MoreUK—a confused mess—alludes to the jumbled nature of a dog’s meal—‘like a dog’s dinner’: over-elaborately or ostentatiously dressed
Read MoreUK, 1882—to remain motionless and quiet; to keep a low profile—probably from ‘dog’ and suffix ‘-o’, with allusion to the characteristically light sleep of a dog
Read MoreUSA, 1870—an unimportant or subsidiary factor, person or thing dominates the situation—based on the image of the inversion of the natural order
Read MoreUSA, 1822—extremely pleased, delighted—alludes to the belief that a dog wags its tail as a sign of pleasure or happiness
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