My dogs are barking

Posted by ESC on January 11, 2009 at 20:43

In Reply to: My dogs are barking posted by Steve on January 11, 2009 at 08:40:

: Where did the phrase "my dogs are barking" come from?

Looks to me like the question is, how did dogs come to mean feet or shoes? Dogs - usually plural, a person's foot or feet, as in "shake one's dogs" meaning dance or "barking dogs." Citations from T.A. Dorgan, in N.Y. Eve. Jour., 1913: "Waitin' for my sore dog to heal up." And dogs as shoes, 1914: "He's been (shining) those old dogs for an hour now." Another citation: "A Marine never calls a foot anything but a dog. 1919, Ladies Home Journal, September. 1966, "My dogs are barking." 1966, "T. Pendleton," Iron Orchard. From Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, Volume 1, A-G by J.E. Lighter, Random House, New York, 1994. Page 616.

• My dogs are barking Smokey Stover 12/January/09
  • My dogs are barking Graham Cambray 21/January/09
    • My dogs are barking Val Clauss 30/March/09