Colloquialism: to see a man about a dog

[Jonathan Lighter]

My grandfather (b. 1884, NYC) said "dog" only.

HDAS files also include "saddle horse" (from the Southwest).

If you're ever down there, you might try "armadillo" and see what happens.

JL



On Thu, Jun 16, 2011 at 5:43 AM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      Re: Colloquialism: to see a man about a dog
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> At 6/16/2011 04:10 AM, Wilson Gray wrote:
>
> >On Wed, Jun 15, 2011 at 1:12 PM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
> wrote:
> > > I remember it as "see a man about a horse."
>
> IIRC, Larry grew up in NYC.  As did I, but I remember it as "dog".
>
> Joel
>
>
> >As do I. FWIW, only in Saint Louis, used in front of the ladies and
> >the chirren by men of my parents' age. We masculine children used
> >"take a leak," as our elders most likely did, too, when out of earshot
> >of childring and ladies.
> >
> >OTOH, I didn't learn "take a _dump_" till I was in the Army.
> >
> >Horse-drawn milk trucks, junk wagons, and other such vehicles were
> >common of the streets till some time After The War.
> >
> >--
> >-Wilson
> >-----
> >All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint
> >to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> >-Mark Twain
> >
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