Dog

See also: dog, DOG, and dög

English

Etymology

The figurative sense "Newcastle Brown Ale" comes from the euphemism "I'm going to walk the dog" or "I'm going to see a man about a dog", meaning "I'm going to the pub for a drink". This was further popularised by a 1980s advertising campaign.

Proper noun

Dog

1. (Should we delete⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) A nickname for a person, especially a tough man
   • 1865, The Herald and Genealogist, volume 2, page 75:

     Writing to Bishop Gibson, who was then preparing his edition of Camden's Britannia, Mr. Evelyn incloses a “letter from a friend of mine, well acquainted with the trustees of Dog Smith (as he is called),” conveying "the particulars of that extraordinary benefactor." Thus, in the Britannia, published in the next year, it is stated positively that “he went a begging for many years, and was commonly called Dog Smith, because he had a dog which always followed him.”

   • 1994, Larry Woody, A Dixie Farewell: The Life and Death of Chucky Mullins

     Brewer, whose coaching nickname is "Dog," recognized that same stubborn, dogged determination in Mullins.

   • 2008, Duane Dog Chapman, You Can Run But You Can't Hide:

     Against all odds, Dog turned his life around and went from ex-con to American icon in the process.

   • 2012, Barrett Tillman, Enterprise: America's Fightingest Ship and the Men Who Helped Win World War II, page 222:

     At Ulithi on November 23, Air Group 20 “cross-decked” to Lexington where Dog Smith's squadrons would complete their tour in late January.

2. (humorous) The language supposedly spoken by dogs
   • 2005, Jean Little, Forward, Shakespeare!, Orca Book Publishers, →ISBN, page 2:

     Shakespeare could understand Human, the language used by people, as well as Dog, the telepathic speech with which canines communicated with each other.

   • 2006, Andrew Cope, Spy Dog: Captured!, Penguin UK, →ISBN, page 12:

     Lara's biggest frustration was that she could only speak one language – her native tongue of Dog. She would have loved to learn to speak Human but this was beyond the spy-training programme.

   • 2015, Harper Lin, Pawsitively Dead: A Wonder Cats Mystery

     I blinked. “I thought you were talking to Blake about a dog.”

     “Cath,” Jake said, “I'm trying to be more open about this. Didn't you just say that you could talk to animals?”

     The realization dawned on me. “I don't speak Dog very well, but it's worth a try.”

3. The eleventh of the 12-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac related to the Chinese calendar.
4. (Tyneside, slang) Newcastle Brown Ale
   • 2006, Verity Stob, The Best of Verity Stob (page 8)

     This article celebrates the fine city of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, situated in northeast England, and its gentle inhabitants, the Geordies. […] Oh yes. Nothing like a pint of dog to establish oneself as a suave sophisticate.

   • 2017, Ray Daniels, Jim Parker, Brown Ale: History, Brewing Techniques, Recipes, Brewers Publications, →ISBN, page 35:

     This popularity has led to another nickname for the beer in its local market: the Dog. Pubgoers in the Northeast often refer to their nightly trip to the pub as “going out to walk the dog.” And because Newcastle Brown Ale is often the beer they are seeking, the company has launched a whole new advertising campaign referring to its beer as "the Dog."

Synonyms

• (The language spoken by dogs): dog, dogspeak
• (Newcastle Brown Ale): Broon (Geordie), Broonale (Geordie), Journey into Space (Geordie, idiomatic), Newkie Brown

Translations

The language supposedly spoken by dogs

• Dutch: honds (nl), Honds (nl)

Anagrams

• God, god