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

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Thu, 19 May 2005 15:13:37 -0400, Fred Shapiro <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
wrote:

>1859 David Barker [is that name for real?] [poem entitled "The Under Dog
>in the Fight"] in _Liberator_ 28 Oct. 172 [American Periodical Series]
>But for _me_ -- and I care not a single fig If they say I am wrong or
>right -- I shall always go in for the _weaker_ dog, For the under dog in
>the fight.

An early hyphenated example, via Literature Online:

1866 C. G. HALPINE _Baked Meats of the Funeral_ 331 Always with a tendency
to side with the "under-dog" in every fight.

http://etext.virginia.edu/cgi-local/chad-pt/pageturner.pl?id=eaf563T&image=563-344.jpg
(page image requires subscription to Chadwyck-Healey)


--Ben Zimmer