See a man about a dog
To see a man about a dog, or To see a man about a horse is an English language colloquialism, usually used as to apologize for one's imminent departure or absence – generally to euphemistically conceal one's true purpose, such as going to use the toilet or going to buy a drink.[1][2] The original non-facetious meaning was probably to place or settle a bet on a race, thus dogs or horses.[3]
[edit] Historical usage
The earliest confirmed publication is the 1866 Dion Boucicault play Flying Scud[4] in which a character knowingly breezes past a difficult situation saying, "Excuse me Mr. Quail, I can't stop; I've got to see a man about a dog."[5][6] In a listing for a 1939 revival on the NBC Radio program America's Lost Plays, Time magazine observed that the phrase is the play's "claim to fame".[7]
During Prohibition in the United States, the phrase was most commonly used in relation to the consumption or purchase of alcoholic beverages.[6]
[edit] References
- Notes
- ^ "Brush up on slang: Going to see a man about a dog.". Birmingham Post. February 14, 2003.
- ^ "Where did the expression 'see a man about a horse' ...". Boston Globe. "The New Dictionary of American Slang says the phrase, which began as "see a man about a dog," has been used since the 1880s to take one's leave for some ..."
- ^ Ayto, John (2006). Brewer's Dictionary of Modern Phrase & Fable. Ian Crofton. Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.. http://books.google.com/books?id=3DiHy31K30oC&pg=PA674&dq=see.a.man.about.a+bet&lr=&as_brr=3&ie=ISO-8859-1&sig=YyGN2rKyoqJZjuyk23Hn8kM62CQ. "The fiction is that one is going to place a bet on a dog in a race."
- ^ First performance Holborn Theatre Royal, London on October 6, 1866: The Times, 8 October, 1866; pg. 7; Issue 25623; col F. First U.S. production at Wallack’s Theatre on April 24, 1867: New York Times 25 April, 1867
- ^ Doug Lennox (2003). Now You Know: The Book of Answers. Dundurn Press Ltd.. ISBN 1550025759. ""Seeing a man about a dog" comes from the 1866 play Flying Scud where a character says "Excuse me Mr. Quail, I can't stop; I've got to see a man about a dog" meaning he needs to leave the room -- and fast."
- ^ a b Quinion, Michael. "See a Man About a Dog". WorldWideWords.org. http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-see1.htm. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
- ^ "Prestige Programs". TIME magazine. July 17, 1939. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,761735,00.html. Retrieved 2007-12-29. "This week the Lost Plays series presents Flying Scud, one of six lost dramas by Dion Boucicault. Its claim to fame: the line "I've got to see a man about a dog.""
- Further reading
- Ayto, John. Oxford Slang. 1998.
- Farmer, J.S. and W.E. Henley. Slang and its Analogues. 1986.
- Chapman, Robert L. Dictionary of American Slang. 1995.
- Matthews, Mitford M. A Dictionary of Americanisms. 1951.
- Spears, Richard A. Slang and Euphemism. 1981.
- Spears, Richard A. The Slang and Jargon of Drugs and Drink. 1986.
- Hurston, Zora Neale 'Their Eyes Were Watching God.' 1937.
