Dogmatic Logo
The Canine in Conversation
 contents page back to last page visited reload this page prior page in site next page in site
CONTENTS BACK RELOAD PRIOR NEXT
illustration of a dog opening the lid of a garbage can
figure 1  

 

to the dogs. To waste, ruin, perdition, etc. used with: give, go, gone, send, or throw.reference 1

Primarily, I believe this expression acknowledges the multi-millennia long role that dogs have played in human society: eating waste.

spacer spacer
photograph of men in overcoats in viewing stands spacer
figure 2

However, the Oxford English Dictionary implies a particular derivation with a somewhat different slant. “The dogs” was a term for “a greyhound race meeting,”reference 2 meeting at which I have no doubt betting and other vices were prominent. So perhaps to go to the dogs is to be drawn in to such vices as wagering, drinking, sloth, etc.

1. Whitney, William Dwight and Benjamin E. Smith. 1914. The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia; with a New Atlas of the World. New York: Century Co., accessed from http:// www.global-language.com/ century/.

2. The Oxford English Dictionary Online. 2005. 3d ed. Accessed from http:// dictionary.oed.com.
line
About the illustrations: Figure 1 Digitally collaged by the author. © 2008 Jupiterimages Corporation. Figure 2 shows the spectators at a greyhound race at a track in Britain Oct 15 1938. Photo by Kurt Hutton/Picture Post. This image is copyrighted and unlicensed. I believe that the use of this scaled-down, low-resolution image to illustrate the article “to the dogs” qualifies as fair use under United States copyright law.
see also: throw one a bone Last updated: March 31, 2008
by Alec MacLeod 2001-2008 Dogmatic Technologies Oakland Creative Commons unless otherwise expressly stated, all original material of whatever nature created by Alec MacLeod and included in The Canine in Conversation and any related pages, is licensed under a Creative Commons License. Please read the Terms of Use Agreement by Alec MacLeod Dogmatic Technologies