Siamese Connection (1879, 1884); Underdog (1884)

[Fred Shapiro]

On Thu, 19 May 2005 Bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:

> 13 September 1884,The Fireman's Journal, pg. 215, col. 1:
> There are many who think that should a vacancy occur in the chiefship,
> District Engineer John W. Regan is entitled to it from his long years of
> successful fire fighting, and in a firemanlike manner on this subject we shall  have to
> side with the "under dog."

The word "underdog" is said to have originated in a 19th-century song or
poem by David Barker ("The Under-Dog in the Fight").  The Levy Sheet Music
Collection has the following:

Title: The under Dog in the fight
Composer, Lyricist, Arranger: Composed by A.J. Higgins
Publication: Chicago, Ill.: A. Judson Higgins, 40 Clark St., 1861.

Fred Shapiro


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