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I don't have a dog in this fight

Posted by Smokey Stover on May 13, 2007

In Reply to: I don't have a dog in this fight posted by Scott Thrash on May 09, 2007

: Origin of:?..." I don't have a dog in this fight"

You didn't ask for the meaning, so you obviously don't need that. The present vogue for the term probably stems from its use by James Baker, former Secretary of State and a Texan. I don't know where he learned the phrase, but dogfighting, illegal in the U.S., is common in Mexico, and in Texas as well, although conducted clandestinely there.

One can't date this expression by the presence or absence of actual dogfighting, although it used to be practiced in England in the 17th century. (I don't know when the practice stopped there.) Dogfight is the metaphor used for the combat between two fighter planes, as it has been since World War I.
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