"The dog ate my ..."

[victor steinbok]

Certainly not the earliest, but here's one from 1964:

http://goo.gl/fVDJ1

> Meriden Journal - Jul 13, 1964
Fun Time. The Chuckle Box. p. 5

>  Passenger: I'm sorry, but my dog ate my ticket. Conductor: Then I suggest
> you buy him a second helping.


VS-)

On Wed, Aug 24, 2011 at 3:53 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:

>
> 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:
>
> >
> > 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....
>

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