LL-L "Etymology" 2008.06.15 (06) [E]

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L O W L A N D S - L - 15 June 2008 - Volume 06
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From: Hugo Zweep <Zweep at bigpond.com>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2008.06.15 (04) [D/E]

Poor dog - In Australia one goes to see a man about a dog.

Hugo Zweep

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From: Kevin & Cheryl Caldwell <kevin.caldwell1963 at verizon.net>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2008.06.15 (04) [D/E]

"To see a man about a horse" or "to see a man about a dog" (I'd never run
across the latter variant before now) may have been popularized during
Prohibition, but it is attested as early as 1866, in the play *Flying
Scud*by Dion Boucicault.

Kevin Caldwell
 From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Etymology

Hello, Denis!

It's great to hear from you again.

I don't think any real meaning is intended with phrases like the one you
mention (as also in American English "to see a man about a horse" or "to see
a man about a dog"). They are taboo phrase replacements, the taboo being
explicitness in "polite" company about going to the bathroom ... uh, toilet.
However, since everyone knows what is really meant (as also in phrases like
"to wash one's hand", 'to freshen up" and "to powder one's nose") people
have put comical spins on some of these phrases, and making them sound
nonsensical and thus absurd is part of the fun.

As for American English "to see a man about a horse" or "to see a man about
a dog," these began during the alcohol prohibition era and used to have a
different meaning: to visit a bootlegger in order to buy liquor. So these
mean "I will be absent for a while," and this was later transferred to the
meaning of "I am about to visit the bathroom."

•

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