How did the phrase 'working like a dog' originate? Dogs just lay around all day.
by 
Meow Meow 1BadMutha TBMF
ANSWERS: 5
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They didn't used to many breeds are working breeds. Corgis for example were cattle herding dogs. Odd 'cos my corgi was TERRIFIED of the mere sight of cows :)
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You obviously have no experience with working dogs. A good dog will work until the cows come home. You've got to bear this in mind whenever you are working with dogs and stop them before they harm themselves.
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I totally understand. The phrase should be "working like an ant" Because those little stinging bastards never stop.
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I found this, and I did not know this: I have found references to "a dog's life" (early 16th century) meaning a life of oppression and "dog tired" (1841) meaning exhausted. Both usages derive from the fact that dogs were the first domesticated animal and were put to work for their human masters right from the start. Their elevation to the status of pampered pet is relatively recent; it began perhaps 150 years ago. In Europe, until early this century, dogs were draught animals as often as horses or oxen. I am currently reading Jerome K. Jerome's Three Men on the Bummel (1900), in which he describes dogs pulling milk carts in Germany. He also describes dogs kept as pets during the same period. I guess we must also consider hunting dogs and any of the working dog breeds. For example, the Great Dane was originally bred to hunt wild boars! And, we well know that a dog will generally do whatever it's master wants it to do. They will work themselves almost to death for us. Consider the seeing eye dog. It is always on duty and ready to serve. http://www.writersblock.ca/summer1999/letter.htm
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It's a dog's life: A miserable, unhappy existence. A life of indolence where the individual may do as he or she pleases, just like a pampered dog. Usage notes: Originally the term referred to the hard life of the working dog: sleeping in a damp barn, chasing rats and other intruders, living on scraps, etc. Today, however, it has in some circles acquired the completely opposite connotation indicated in sense 2. http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dog%27s_life http://www.bartleby.com/61/52/D0325200.html (Slang) A miserably unhappy existence. A miserably unhappy existence, as in He's been leading a dog's life since his wife left him. This expression was first recorded in a 16th-century manuscript and alludes to the miserable subservient existence of dogs during this era. By the 1660s there was a proverb: "It's a dog's life, hunger and ease." http://www.answers.com/topic/dog-s-life
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