Roots
Is English going to the dogs?
Deepti

THE word ‘dog’ is of unknown origin. It is definite that the word comes from the old English ‘docga’, but nothing is known about its etymological history. While the presence of man’s best friend is felt everyday in life, man’s vocabulary has been enhanced by input from this canine. One finds the word ‘dog’ used in all kinds of diverse contexts. For instance, harsh treatment can be termed ‘treated like a dog’ or if a book is of a poor quality it is called ‘a dog of a book’ or celebrities can complain of journalists ‘dogging their steps’.

Many expressions use the bow-wow component to convey meaning. There are so many that language users may not be familiar with all. So, a quick look at a few is required here. For example, do you know that the traditional black telephone instrument was called ‘dog and bone’ in slang? And, ‘dog eat dog’ refers to cut-throat competition. There is a proverb that says ‘why keep a dog and bark yourself?’ It means ‘why pay someone to work for you and do the work yourself?’ When a person shows off in public, this behaviour is ‘putting on the dog’. In British slang, ‘dressed up like a dog’s dinner’ means that the person concerned is wearing ostentatious clothes. Once a person gets a reputation for anything negative, it becomes the practice to ‘give the dog a bad name and hang him’, which means that once you get a bad reputation, it is tough to lose it, even if it is not justified.

In this world, every dog has his day; so one need not worry because everyone gets success at some point in life. Success makes a person as happy as ‘a dog with two tails’. The next time you see a dog happily wagging its tail, imagine the happiness expressed by two wagging tails. And, when there is a big fuss around you, just remember this one: ‘dogs bark, but the caravans move on’. All the fuss in the world can’t change a situation, so, let all fusspots remain in the doghouse.