"The dog ate my ..."

[Jonathan Lighter]

So it could - in theory - be based on an actual event from the dawn of
homework-as-we- know-it.

JL

On Wed, Aug 24, 2011 at 3:39 PM, Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Victor Steinbok <aardvark66 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: "The dog ate my ..."
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Of no linguistic value, but a true story--we actually had a dog that ate
> an insurance check. We had to call the insurance company and give them
> the "dog ate my check" excuse so that they would send a replacement.
> Even offered to send them the left-over scrap (about 2-in. corner
> piece). They laughed very hard for a long time, but replaced it.
>
> The dog is still alive, but no longer eats checks--she lost the taste
> for paper (she also used to eat any paper towels she could find) about
> three years ago. At 13, she's on a high-fiber diet, so no longer needs
> cellulose supplements. ;-)
>
> VS-)
>
> On 8/24/2011 3:12 PM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> > And the five-star "origin" of the dogs-eating-homework tale is right
> here:
> > http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091002114825AASeP2Y
> >
> > Someone here traced it back to Feb., 1962.  I tried but can't better it.
> >
> > I remember it from high school, probably in '63 or '64. It struck me as
> > hilarious.
> >
> > JL
> >
> >
> >
> > On Wed, Aug 24, 2011 at 2:34 PM, Joel S. Berson<Berson at att.net>  wrote:
> >
> >> Latest excuse - "The dog ate my diamonds."  See probably many sites,
> >> two hours ago, including
> >>
> http://www.newsmax.com/US/georgia-dog-eats-diamonds/2011/08/24/id/408480
> >>
> >> I see, however, that this is dog redux -- or perhaps reflux?  From
> >> which end of the 2011 dog were the diamonds recovered? -- since there
> >> was a similar but potentially twice as costly incident in January 2010:
> >>
> >>
> http://www.myfoxdc.com/dpp/news/offbeat/jewelers-dog-eats-20000-diamond-031110
> >>
> >> Joel
>
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