Dog Day
Aug 26
Other Scottish Country Dances for this Day
Today's Musings, History & Folklore
"Every dog has his day."
That's right! And today is Dog Day! Given the close relationship between man and dog, there are an incredible amount of expressions for "man's best friend." The phrase, "a dog's breakfast" represents "... any kind of smorgasbord prepared, in haste or at random, from life's castoffs. Or it can mean something or someone that looks extremely untidy, something that is very badly done." In contrast, "a dog's dinner" is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary Supplement as "dressed or arranged in an ostentatiously smart or flashy manner." Woof! 🐕
A Dog's Breakfast
August 26th is National Dog Day, a day to celebrate man's best friend.
National Dog Day celebrates all dogs, mixed breed and pure. This day was created to help galvanize the public to recognize the number of dogs that need to be rescued each year and to acknowledges both the family dogs and dogs that work selflessly each day to save lives, keep us safe and bring comfort.
Humans and dogs have a shared social history dating well over 10,000 years. Dogs are, by far, the earliest domesticated species, plant or animal.
Dr. James A. Serpell, PhD - from the Center for Canine Behavior Studies in Pennsylvania writes:
In symbolic terms, the domestic dog exists precariously in the no-man's-land between human and non-human worlds. It is an interstitial creature, neither person nor beast, forever oscillating uncomfortably between the roles of high-status animal and low-status person. … it has become a creature of metaphor, simultaneously embodying or representing a strange mixture of admirable and despicable traits.
It is no surprise then that dogs have infiltrated our language as metaphor and idiom.
The phrase, "a dog's breakfast" represents "... any kind of smorgasbord prepared, in haste or at random, from life's castoffs. Or it can mean something or someone that looks extremely untidy, something that is very badly done."
In contrast, "a dog's dinner" is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary Supplement as "dressed or arranged in an ostentatiously smart or flashy manner."
For a surprising list of American and older idiomatic expressions pertaining to the canine in conversation, click the dog looking to have a "Doggy Buffet", by Dick Sargent, 1957.
Click the dance cribs or description below to link to a printable version of the dance!
