Careful Words

dog (n.)

dog (v.)

dog (adj.)

  Alcibiades had a very handsome dog, that cost him seven thousand drachmas; and he cut off his tail, "that," said he, "the Athenians may have this story to tell of me, and may concern themselves no further with me."

Plutarch (46(?)-120(?) a d): Apophthegms of Kings and Great Commanders. Alcibiades.

I had rather be a dog, and bay the moon,

Than such a Roman.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Julius Caesar. Act iv. Sc. 3.

But thinks, admitted to that equal sky,

His faithful dog shall bear him company.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744): Essay on Man. Epistle i. Line 111.

I pray thee let me and my fellow have

A haire of the dog that bit us last night.

John Heywood (Circa 1565): Proverbes. Part i. Chap. xi.

I am his Highness' dog at Kew;

Pray tell me, sir, whose dog are you?

Alexander Pope (1688-1744): On the Collar of a Dog.

Like a dog, he hunts in dreams.

Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892): Locksley Hall. Line 79.

And in that town a dog was found,

As many dogs there be,

Both mongrel, puppy, whelp, and hound,

And curs of low degree.

Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774): Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog.

  Like a hog, or dog in the manger, he doth only keep it because it shall do nobody else good, hurting himself and others.

Robert Burton (1576-1640): Anatomy of Melancholy. Part i. Sect. 2, Memb. 3, Subsect. 12.

  I do not know, sir, that the fellow is an infidel; but if he be an infidel, he is an infidel as a dog is an infidel; that is to say, he has never thought upon the subject.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784): Life of Johnson (Boswell). Vol. iii. Chap. iii. 1769.

  Is thy servant a dog, that he should do this great thing?

Old Testament: 2 Kings viii. 13.

The dog is turned to his own vomit again.

New Testament: 2 Peter ii. 22.

The man recovered of the bite,

The dog it was that died.

Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774): Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog.

I am Sir Oracle,

And when I ope my lips, let no dog bark!

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): The Merchant of Venice. Act i. Sc. 1.

  A living dog is better than a dead lion.

Old Testament: Ecclesiastes ix. 4.

Love me, love my dog.

John Heywood (Circa 1565): Proverbes. Part ii. Chap. ix.

Mine enemy's dog,

Though he had bit me, should have stood that night

Against my fire.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): King Lear. Act iv. Sc. 7.

You call me misbeliever, cut-throat dog,

And spit upon my Jewish gaberdine.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): The Merchant of Venice. Act i. Sc. 3.

Dog, ounce, bear, and bull,

Wolfe, lion, horse.

Du Bartas (1544-1590): Second Week, First Day, Part iii.

But thinks, admitted to that equal sky,

His faithful dog shall bear him company.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744): Essay on Man. Epistle i. Line 111.

Lo, when two dogs are fighting in the streets,

With a third dog one of the two dogs meets;

With angry teeth he bites him to the bone,

And this dog smarts for what that dog has done.

Henry Fielding (1707-1754): Tom Thumb the Great. Act i. Sc. 6.

He will hold thee, when his passion shall have spent its novel force,

Something better than his dog, a little dearer than his horse.

Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892): Locksley Hall. Line 49.

The dog, to gain his private ends,

Went mad, and bit the man.

Oliver Goldsmith (1728-1774): Elegy on the Death of a Mad Dog.

  So they [Azarias and Tobias] went forth both, and the young man's dog went with them.

Old Testament: Tobit v. 16.

  Sir, a woman preaching is like a dog's walking on his hind legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784): Life of Johnson (Boswell). Vol. ii. Chap. ix.

I am his Highness' dog at Kew;

Pray tell me, sir, whose dog are you?

Alexander Pope (1688-1744): On the Collar of a Dog.

Let Hercules himself do what he may,

The cat will mew and dog will have his day.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Hamlet. Act v. Sc. 1.

Eye of newt and toe of frog,

Wool of bat and tongue of dog.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Macbeth. Act iv. Sc. 1.

Cel.  Not a word?

Ros.  Not one to throw at a dog.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): As You Like It. Act i. Sc. 3.

by simon sarris • about