Colloquialism: to see a man about a dog

[Alice Faber]

On 6/16/11 10:30 AM, Laurence Horn wrote:
> At 7:43 AM -0400 6/16/11, Joel S. Berson wrote:
>> At 6/16/2011 04:10 AM, Wilson Gray wrote:
>>
>>> On Wed, Jun 15, 2011 at 1:12 PM, Laurence Horn
>>> <laurence.horn at yale.edu>  wrote:
>>>>   I remember it as "see a man about a horse."
>>
>> IIRC, Larry grew up in NYC.
>
> Right.  Idle speculation:  "see a man about a dog" *could* have been
> taken literally, but *see a man about a horse* almost certainly
> couldn't have been.  (Yes, there were some police horses around,
> but...)
>
> And I only remember hearing it to euphemize a bathroom visit, not for
> taking one's leave to enjoy a drink or a romantic dalliance.

Right. I was wondering when someone was going to mention that usage.

--
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Alice Faber                                    faber at haskins.yale.edu
Haskins Laboratories                           tel: (203) 865-6163 x258
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