dog-eat-dog (1872)

[Benjamin Zimmer]

OED has:

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_dog-eat-dog_, phr. used esp. attrib. of a ruthlessly competitive attitude
(with allusion to the proverb ‘dog does not eat dog’: cf. quot. 1858 s.v.
17s)

1931 ‘D. STIFF’ Milk & Honey Route xv. 169 He knows and lives the justice
of the jungle as well as he knows and lives the *dog-eat-dog code of the
main stem.
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Here's a much earlier attributive usage:

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1872 _New York Times_ 5 Aug. 5/5 Some of the Texan Democratic journals
take a statesmanlike view of the "dog-eat-dog" relations existing, and
naturally, between those who mistakenly _follow_ the piebald candidate and
those who only propose _to use_ him.
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But how old is the expression "dog eat dog"?  The Early American
Newspapers database has articles headlined "dog eat dog" back to 1794,
referring to various cases of like attacking like:

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August 5, 1794
Gazette of the United States
"Dog Eat Dog." Halifax, N. S. July 10
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June 29, 1808
Connecticut Courant
>From Burlington, (Vermont.) June 17. "Dog Eat Dog"
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August 23, 1819
Baltimore Patriot
Dog Eat Dog
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OED says "dog eat dog" comes from the proverb "dog does not eat dog" but
only lists a quote from 1858.  _America's Popular Sayings_ by Gregory
Titelman traces the expression back to the Latin "Canis caninam non est"
but dates its U.S. usage to 1792 (_Modern Chivalry_ by Hugh Henry
Brackenridge).  Here's a slightly earlier U.K. example, from N-archive's
haphazard records for the _Times_ of London:

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1789 _Times_ (London) 19 Jun. 3/1 As it is an established fact, that
sharper will not rob sharper, nor dog eat dog.
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Fred Shapiro no doubt has earlier variations.


--Ben Zimmer