When I was a child and asked my father where he was going, often, and I think it was more out of mischief, than to truly keep us in ignorance, he would say “To see a man about a dog!” As so often in this exploration of the origin of phrases that we know the usage of but have forgotten the origin of, we find multiple claims… This site lists some of the earliest recorded appearances in print (1865) and also includes the 1930’s cartoon below.
What is certain, is that the phrase became synonymous with signalling that you are going somewhere but you don’t want to specify where – anything from going to the toilet, going to an (illegal) speakeasy bar (America in the 1920s) and perhaps the original source of the expression – going to place a bet on a greyhound race.
With Spill the Beans, we are back with the ancient Greeks – the originators of Democracy. Voting in their parliament took place by choosing either a white or a black bean from a dish and placing it into a container and once everyone had voted, the beans would be spilt out and then counted – nothing to do with Heinz 57 Varieties!
Strike while the Iron is Hot has nothing to do with ironing a shirt and everything to do with Blacksmiths working their metal while it is still hot enough to be malleable, glowing red hot, because it takes longer to heat the piece up than the time it remains workable so you must work quickly and strike while the iron is hot…
Steal Someone’s Thunder comes from the failed Enlightenment playwright (and critic) John Dennis – whose first play was a failure, but one thing that appeared in it for the first time in the history of theatre was the thunder sheet – a large sheet of thin metal which when shaken, creates a realistic thunder sound. Later, the technique was used in a production of Shakespeare’s Macbeth so Dennis responded by saying “Damn them! They will not let my play run, but they steal my thunder!”
Swinging the Lead takes us back to sailors and their expressions – as a ship moves through shallow water, the “leadsman” stands near the bow of the ship and throws a lead weight on the end of a line with knots marking the length of line which the leadsman counts up and calls out to the helmsman as he goes. The weight also has tallow on its base so that bits of the seabed may get picked up – sand, small shingle or if it is rocky, perhaps nothing – hence “Two fathoms by the head, sandy bottom!”. Swinging the lead was considered to be an easy job compared to those manning the sheets (ropes) or climbing up the rigging to haul in the sails. Physically easy it might be, but the speed and accuracy of the leadsman is vital to the safety of the ship. The picture above shows the original meaning of swinging the lead but the picture below shows what it came to mean – trying to have an easy day or night by pulling a sickie…
Shake a Leg is an earlier naval seaman’s term from the days of wooden warships. The regime and the enforcement of rules seem to have been very variable in the British Navy – at the discretion of the Captain and via his Officers then in some ships, especially on home leave at Portsmouth, the naval headquarters, WAGS (wives and “girlfriends”) were allowed not only to visit on board, but to sleep over with their sailor companions in their hammocks, a few ships even allowed such women to accompany voyages and may have had some other duties cooking or doing the washing, perhaps looking after the squeakers (young boys might start in the navy as young as eleven). However, even in port, duties abound and so the men in charge would move between the rows of hammocks calling the sailors to “wake up and shake a leg!” If a clearly feminine form was shaken over the edge of the hammock, then the owner of the leg was allowed to remain aslumber…
We have a good few Cant languages from the Wikipedia article today:
- Šatrovački, from the former Yugoslavia
- Scottish Cant a variant of Scots and Romani used by the Lowland Romani people in Scotland, United Kingdom
- Shelta, from the Irish Travellers community in Ireland
- Sheng from Kenya
- Spasell, from Italy
- Swardspeak (or Bekimon, or Bekinese), from the Philippines
Interesting – I remember my ex always saying he was going to “see a man about a horse” when he headed to the restroom. I guess it was another take on “see a man about a dog”.
Donna McNicol – My A to Z Blogs
DB McNicol – Small Delights, Simple Pleasures, and Significant Memories
My Snap Memories – My Life in Black & White
Yes, apparently there are variations with different animals.
Thanks for visiting Donna…
Another great collection, especially love the story about the seamen and their women. And I think the fact that both “see a man about a dog” and “see a man about a horse” exist confirms that it really is about betting.
My favorite today is “stealing one’s thunder.” Poor Dennis. But thunder sheets are fabulous. I once experimented with a bookbinding project using thin metal for the covers but got caught up in shaking the sheet. In retrospect, I’m glad no one was there to steal my thunder.
I love an unsolicited confession revealing the less serious side of a bookbinder…
My father would always say. I’m going to see a man about a horse. I enjoyed the read.