I don’t know about you and yours, but my family always excused ourselves from company for private purposes with this phrase:
Excuse me, I have to see a man about a dog.
Wikipedia says (so, of course, it must be true):
The earliest confirmed publication is the 1866 Dion Boucicault play Flying Scud[2] in which a character knowingly breezes past a difficult situation saying, “Excuse me Mr. Quail, I can’t stop; I’ve got to see a man about a dog.”[3][4] Time magazine observed that the phrase was the play’s “claim to fame”.[5]
During Prohibition in the United States, the phrase was most commonly used in relation to the consumption or purchase of alcoholic beverages.[4] In Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle Brown Ale commonly gained the nickname of “Dog” from the frequent use of the phrase to describe going to the pub.[6]
Since I’m rather fond of Newcastle Brown Ale, I approve this citation.
This post is part of Linda G. Hills weekly blog hop, One-Liner Wednesday. If you have a one-liner or just like them, follow the link.
A WRITING PROMPT FROM ME TO YOU: Someone needs to see a man about a dog.
MA
Roy A Ackerman, PhD, EA
September 25, 2019 at 9:32amThe first time I heard that expression was when I moved to the South. Not once did I hear it in NYC, Boston-Cambridge, or Ann Arbor. Nor do I miss it.
Marian Allen
September 25, 2019 at 10:12amI would apologize, if I had time, but I have to see a man about a dog.
John Holton
September 25, 2019 at 11:10amI played Santa Claus once and came up with “Santa’s gotta see a man about a reindeer.”
Mitchell Allen
September 25, 2019 at 2:34pmBut, what about the horse? I’ve heard that one more often.
I just duckduckgo’d it and the top result is from Wordnik, wherein seeing a man about a horse logically follows on from having seen him about a dog, or three…LOL
Cheers,
Mitch
Daniel Antion
September 25, 2019 at 6:05pmI mostly heard it “about a horse” but it’d always interesting.
Joanne Sisco
September 25, 2019 at 7:31pmWhether a dog or a horse, this one is new to me.