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In and out like a dog at fair

Posted by Baceseras on December 29, 2010 at 17:06

In Reply to: In and out like a dog at fair posted by Jessica Frizell on December 28, 2010 at 20:10:

: In reply to the query about 'in and out like a dog at fair' posted 23/9/07, I am prompted to respond because I use this phrase regularly and this week at work my colleagues looked at me most oddly as they had never heard the expression. I was brought up in the north west of England and my mum was a Lancashire lass, born 1906. Mum used the saying frequently and of course I never questioned it... 'til now. I'm guessing it may be to do with a sideshow/stall at a fair.

[I'm most surprised by your colleagues' surprise. Even to my American ears it sounds like a primordial observation - of a dog dodging in and out among the booths, barrows, or stalls in a market fair. Pretty typical dog behavior, I'd say. And a lovely expression; I like it very much. - Baceseras]

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