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Posted By: maverick Woof! Woof! - 08/01/03 11:24 PM
I heard a familiar word today on the radio that was being used in a way quite unfamiliar to me

It is a typical language scenario where a noun has (by a process of synecdoche) come to stand for a complete activity, and by a back-formation has then spawned a new noun to describe the er, participants in this social activity. If I tell you that, like Sherlock, it's a case of the dog that did not bark, can you guess the term?

I believe it is a UKism, but please share if any of you know otherwise…!



Posted By: wwh Re: Woof! Woof! - 08/02/03 12:44 AM
Dear mav: I got nowhere, but it sounds like fun.

Posted By: Zed Re: Woof! Woof! - 08/02/03 01:41 AM
You know this is going to bug me until I get back to a computer on Tuesday!

Posted By: maverick Re: Woof! Woof! - 08/02/03 12:56 PM
not 'arf!

Posted By: wwh Re: Woof! Woof! - 08/02/03 10:12 PM
Dear Mav: with 33 views, and not attempts at a solution, I suggest giving us some clues.

Posted By: maverick Re: Woof! Woof! - 08/02/03 10:24 PM
More clues? I'd be barking mad in public

Posted By: Faldage Re: Woof! Woof! - 08/02/03 10:30 PM
My guess is that whatever it is, it isn't an USnism.

Posted By: maverick Re: Woof! Woof! - 08/02/03 10:34 PM
USnism

One of the thangs that innerested me, as a new term in my lexicon, was that initial googling threw up millions of US usages, but in a whole nother context...

Posted By: wwh Re: Woof! Woof! - 08/02/03 11:47 PM
OK, mav. I suspect that "woof woof" may be a clue, because there are many other dog vocal expressions you could have used."woof" can also be a weaving term. But that does not suggest any further step to me.








Posted By: maverick Re: Woof! Woof! - 08/02/03 11:53 PM
Dawgone it, Bill, you just want the nekkid truth or what?

Posted By: wwh Re: Woof! Woof! - 08/03/03 12:23 AM
Now I suspect nudity has something to do with it. Next clue, please.

Posted By: Wordwind Re: Woof! Woof! - 08/03/03 01:12 AM
This isn't phallic or anything like that, is it?

Posted By: wwh Re: Woof! Woof! - 08/03/03 01:41 AM
I see no clues to that. Yet.

Posted By: maahey Re: Woof! Woof! - 08/03/03 01:48 AM
nintendo?

meme/mimic/imitate/mimicry

grrr......mav, this is hopeless; your clues are way too cerebral for me...what IS this word?

Posted By: Wordwind Re: Woof! Woof! - 08/03/03 01:53 AM
In reply to:

the dog that did not bark


--Maverick


Participants? Let sleeping dogs lie? Sleeping dogs don't bark. But we don't say let a sleeping dog lie, so that doesn't work.

What other 'mute' dogs are there? Nekkid mute dogs? Ha! Dawgone nekkid mute dogs? That we can noun and verb?

A nekkid dog makes me think of a mangy dog...but that doesn't necessarily make a mute dog...

Must go to sleep. It's very late now--and I expect dawgone nekkid mute dogs will jump over this tired puppy's fence tonight.

Need to let my dogs rest--living this dog's life and all that.

And don't bark up any tree for that word that rhymes with 'itch' while I'm sleeping. You'll get collared if you do.

Posted By: Buffalo Shrdlu Re: Woof! Woof! - 08/03/03 03:21 AM
Malamute?

Posted By: wwh Re: Woof! Woof! - 08/03/03 12:31 PM
Basenjis don't bark, but I doubt that is any help.

Posted By: musick Re: Woof! Woof! - 08/03/03 02:59 PM
Mav is hot dogging this one.

Posted By: wwh Re: Woof! Woof! - 08/03/03 03:46 PM
Dear Musick: you remind me of a popular putdown when I was a kid:"Just because you've got mustard in your ears,don't think you are a hot dog!"

Posted By: tsuwm grrrr.. - 08/03/03 04:10 PM
affenpinscher, Afghan hound, aggravate, Alaskan malamute, animal, annoy, arch, baboon, badger, badger dog, bag, bait, balker, balky horse, bandog, bar, barbet, barricade, basset, basset hound, be at, beagle, beast, beat, bedevil, Bedlington terrier, bedog, beset, billy, billy goat, bitch, blemish, block, block up, blockade, bloodhound, blot, boar, boarhound, bolt, Border terrier, borzoi, Boston bull, bother, bowwow, boxer, bristle, brown off, bubbly-jock, buck, bug, bull, bull terrier, bulldog, bullock, bullyrag, burn up, Cairn terrier, canine, chanticleer, chase, Chihuahua, chivy, chock, choke, choke off, chow, close, close off, close tight, close up, clubfoot, coach dog, cock, cockerel, collie, come after, come behind, constrict, coonhound, course, crate, crock, crowbait, crowd, cur, dachshund, Dalmatian, debar, deerhound, devil, digit, discompose, distemper, disturb, Doberman pinscher, drake, drive, English toy spaniel, entire, entire horse, Eskimo dog, exasperate, exercise, extremity, eyesore, falcon, fancy dog, fash, feist, fetlock, flat-coated retriever, flush, follow, follow the hounds, follow up, foot, forefoot, forepaw, fowl, fox terrier, foxhound, frank, fret, fright, gander, gargoyle, garron, get, giant schnauzer, give chase, go after, go behind, go hunting, goat, gobbler, golden retriever, Gordon setter, Great Dane, Great Pyrenees, greyhound, griffon, gripe, guide dog, gun, gyp, hack, hag, harass, harefoot, harridan, harrier, harry, hart, haunt, hawk, heap, heckle, hector, heel, he-goat, hollo after, hoof, hot dog, hound, hunt, hunt down, husky, hyena, insect, instep, irk, jack, jacklight, jade, jam, jughead, kennel, Kerry blue terrier, Labrador retriever, lakeland terrier, lap dog, lock, make after, malamute, Maltese, mastiff, mess, miff, molest, mongrel, monster, monstrosity, move behind, mutt, nag, needle, nettle, Newfoundland, no beauty, Norwegian elkhound, Norwich terrier, nudzh, obstruct, occlude, otterhound, pack, pack of dogs, pad, papillon, pastern, patte, paw, peacock, pedal extremity, pedes, peeve, Pekingese, persecute, pes, pester, pick on, pied, pig, pique, plague, pluck the beard, plug, pointer, polecat, pooch, poodle, pother, prick, prosecute, provoke, prowl after, pug, puli, pup, puppy, pursue, quest, quest after, raise the hunt, ram, rat terrier, reptile, retriever, Rhodesian ridgeback, ride, ride to hounds, rile, roarer, rogue, roil, rooster, rosinante, Rottweiler, ruffle, run, run after, Saluki, Samoyed, scalawag, scarecrow, Scottish deerhound, scum(!), search, Seeing Eye dog, seek, seek out, serpent, setter, shadow, sheep dog, shikar, shithead(!!), shoot, show dog, shut off, shut out, shut tight, Siberian husky, sight, skunk, sled dog, sleuth, sleuthhound, slut, snake, sole, spaniel, splayfoot, sport, squeeze, squeeze shut, stag, staghound, stalk, stallion, start, steer, stiff, stifle, still-hunt, stinkard, stop up, stot, strangle, strangulate, string along, stud, studhorse, suffocate, swine, tag, tag after, tag along, tail, tailgate, take out after, tease, teratism, terrier, toad, toe, tom, tom turkey, tomcat, tootsy, top cow, top horse, torment, toy dog, track, trail, trail after, tread close upon, trotter, try the patience,
tup(!?), turd, turkey gobbler, turkey-cock, turnspit, tweak the nose, tyke, ugly duckling, ungula, varmint, vermin, vex, viper, watchdog, Welsh corgi, Welsh terrier, wether, whelp, whippet, whistler, wiener, wienerwurst, wienie, wire-haired terrier, witch, wolfhound, working dog, worm, worry, wreck, Yorkshire terrier

Posted By: musick Things that go grrrr.. - 08/03/03 04:39 PM
tsuwm - I won't even ask... but it was fun gettting the e-mail notification. I think it's the longest one I've ever had without pictures...

Posted By: maverick Re: Things that go grrrr.. - 08/03/03 05:19 PM
lol tsuwm!

so should I reveal all, so to speak, or leave for awhile longer to see if anyone else wants to make a public exhibition of themselves?

<eg>

Posted By: Faldage Re: Things that go grrrr.. - 08/03/03 06:15 PM
should I reveal all

Might as well, if only to take us out of your misery. And the dog best not be shaggy.

Posted By: maverick Re: shaggy dogs - 08/03/03 06:22 PM
heh, you may not like this then!


http://www.bbc.co.uk/gloucestershire/focus/2003/07/doggin.shtml


But at least this saves our more delicate members from googling the term like I did, which tends to lead you to some, er, unusual special interest websites!


Posted By: tsuwm Re: shaggy dogs - 08/03/03 06:45 PM
>only "walking the dog" - nudge, nudge, wink, wink!

I knew I was on the right track with nudzh.

Posted By: WhitmanO'Neill Re: shaggy dogs - 08/03/03 06:56 PM
Well...where's the novelty? Merrycans been doin' this for decades...ever hear of a drive-in? Here's a hint...not too many folks wuz watchin' the movie.

So, mav, I guess you're busy organizin' the first official team for this new *sport!

Posted By: wwh Re: shaggy dogs - 08/03/03 07:25 PM
Dear Mav: do all the. er, connections have to be made doggie style? "Please,don't make me run down past Mother's!"

P.S. the hazards metnioned did't include photgraphic blackmail. (Great pictures of us! I'll buy three sets)




















Posted By: maverick Re: shaggy dogs - 08/03/03 10:23 PM
So what exactly does the Murky idiom of 'dogging it' mean - is it something like underperforming, failing, not stepping up to the plate...?

Posted By: Faldage Re: shaggy dogs - 08/03/03 10:29 PM
dogging it

Yeah I'd think that underperforming would about cover it.

Posted By: tsuwm Re: shaggy dogs - 08/03/03 10:32 PM
dogging it = ca'canny



Posted By: maverick Re: shaggy dogs - 08/03/03 10:48 PM
lol!

The joys of incomprehension :)

Posted By: WhitmanO'Neill Re: shaggy dogs - 08/04/03 02:26 AM
dogging it

Yeah I'd think that underperforming would about cover it.


I think you'd have to add deliberately underperforming....because the nuance implies a sports player (for instance) is dogging it out of laziness and/or indifference...not out of a lack of ability. As in "not hustling." i.e If the fastest runner on the team takes his time and gets thrown out, then you'd say "man, he was really doggin' it." BTW, the USn idiom would seem to be dogging it...don't think I've ever heard dogging without the it.



Posted By: maahey Re: shaggy dogs - 08/04/03 03:05 AM
Am I the only one feeling somewhat anticlimactic? Mav, I wasted some good time on your poser, I'll have you know! Nintendo indeed!

Posted By: Wordwind Re: shaggy dogs - 08/04/03 03:17 AM
I never realized that 'dogging' something meant one was deliberately underperforming. I'll look it up tomorrow, but now it's late again.

It would be pretty interesting if dogging something really meant what you all are saying it means because hounding someone means quite the opposite: going after someone or something with dogged determination. Very, very interesting. Dog can mean both going at something with determination and going at something with no determination. I just love these linguistic idiosyncrasies.

Posted By: tsuwm Re: shaggy dogs - 08/04/03 03:21 AM
>Am I the only one feeling somewhat anticlimatic?

oh, I don't think so (although my post would probably have to be classified as ante-anticlimactic, or in the expectation thereof.. :)
-ron o.

Posted By: Faldage Re: shaggy dogs - 08/04/03 10:49 AM
deliberately underperforming

That's a friendly amendment.

Posted By: wwh Re: shaggy dogs - 08/04/03 01:02 PM
My uncle told me of a use of "dogging" over a hundred years ago. Down in Belfast,ME, the city let a contract for care of the poor in a separate residence provided by a farmer.
One of the residents on the "poor farm" had a daughter who got pregnant without benefit of clergy. When the girl's father tried to arrange a "shotgun wedding" but did not own a shotgun, he was told:"Keep your bitches to home when they are dogging."

Posted By: WhitmanO'Neill Re: shaggy dogs - 08/05/03 03:32 AM
BTW, dogging it also takes the form dog it in certain instances. i.e:

Don't dog it like that!

He dogs it all the time.

He can really dog it when he wants to.

And I've heard and used it many a time in referring to a day, for instance, when I'm feeling particularly lackadaisical and indifferent towards work:

I think I'll just dog it today.
(which could actually take another meaning of "just going through the motions" in this variation)


Posted By: wwh Re: shaggy dogs - 08/05/03 01:52 PM
"Am I the only one feeling somewhat anticlimatic? "
Was a "c" left out of that word?
Who would want to abolish climaxes?



Posted By: maverick Re: anticlimatic - 08/05/03 02:04 PM
yeahbut® who'd want to abolish weather?

Sorry maahey! ~ but it genuinely interested me that walking the dog led to dogging led to doggers, in the linguistic progression I described.

Posted By: maahey Re: Good fun, mav! - 08/05/03 07:10 PM
Mav, I thoroughly enjoyed the word hunt you set us on and now that I have the answer, your clues I must add, are extremely witty. Reminds me of something a professor of mine is never tired of repeating, 'what the mind does not know, the eye does not see'!

wwh, I have edited; thanks.

Posted By: tsuwm Re: Good fun, mav! - 08/05/03 07:34 PM
>extremely witty

wit and abstrusity need not be inextricably linked. ;-)

Posted By: Jackie Re: Good fun, mav! - 08/07/03 01:28 AM
wit and abstrusity need not be inextricably linked Especially not for those afflicted with obtusity.

Posted By: musick Re: Things that go bump in the day... - 08/10/03 06:30 PM
If I had originally said "Mav is hot dogging us with this one" he may have *accepted it as a correct guess.

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