Odd expression: "screw the pooch" = get things all fouled up

[Dennis R. Preston]

Oh, yeah. English Departments. I forgot.

dInIs

>We used "fuck the dog" = 'goof off, not do one's work when one should' in the
>English Department in grad school (Iowa City 1960s).
>
>In a message dated 7/20/04 7:35:59 PM, preston at MSU.EDU writes:
>
>
>>  I do not know "fuck the dog" meaning to fuck up or off, but in the
>>  Louisville (KY) area in the 50's we had exclamatory "fuck a (big
>>  brown) dog." It may, however, be unrelated to the item under
>>  discussion; it seems semantically off.
>>
>>  dInIs
>>


--
Dennis R. Preston
University Distinguished Professor of Linguistics
Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic, Asian, and African Languages
A-740 Wells Hall
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824
Phone: (517) 432-3099
Fax: (517) 432-2736
preston at msu.edu