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The Canine in Conversation
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a daschund walking followed by a man in an over coat holding a magnifying glass spacer
figure 1  

 

dog (follow) This may be to follow literally or, more commonly, figuratively to follow, like a reputation that is not easily shed.

Note the less aggressive nature of the use of “dog” as a verb when compared to “hound.” When one is hounded, there is an element of being chased. This might be because the hounded one is driven to a particular place, as by herding dogs, pursued for the purpose of capture, or chased as prey. Dog, in contrast, refers to the obtrusive nature of dogs. Dogs are not shy about wanting to be around the human to which they are bonded or the alpha of their pack. One of the endearing and irritating qualities of dogs is their shameless need for attention.

In the headlines, this is the most common metaphorical dog of all, probably because it captures a lot of meaning in just three or four letters. Examples are easily found: “'Plenty Of Questions' Will Dog New CEO Of Carrier Vodafone,” runs a headline in Business Investors Daily.reference 1 “Microsoft's Ballmer: Linux Still Dogs Us” leads a story on InternetWeek.com.reference 2

1. Krause, Reinhardt. 2003. 'Plenty of Questions' Will Dog New CEO of Carrier Vodafone. Investor's Business Daily. Accessed Jun 29 2003 from http:// story.news. yahoo.com/news? tmpl=story&u=/ibd/ 20030605/ bs_ibd_ibd/200365tech.

2. Darrow, Barbara. 2003. Microsoft's Ballmer: Linux Still Dogs Us. Tech Web. Accessed Jun 29 2003 from http:// www.internetweek.com/ story/showArticle.jhtml? articleID=10300262.
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About the illustration:A dog being dogged. © 2008 Jupiterimages Corporation.  
see also: doggo
cf: hound; watchdog; harry; hot on the scent of; nipping at the heels of
Last updated: August 13, 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