Dash

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Dash was the name of Charles Lamb’s dog. I am deadly serious about this.

One of the books I picked up in Vancouver was Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable Centenary Edition (1977, 1st 1870).

There are four pages devoted to “dog,” organized thusly:

Dogs

  • in Phrases of Colloquialisms
  • of note in Classics and Legend
  • of noted people in Literature, etc.
  • in Symbolism and Metaphor
  • Combination of Dog or Dogs

Examples in order:

A dog in the manger. A mean-spirited individual who will not use what is wanted by another, nor yet let the other have it to use; one who prevents another enjoying something without any benefit to himself.

Hum.

Ulysses’s Dog. Argos. He recognized his master after his return from Troy, and died of joy.

Sad.

Nana. Mr. & Mrs. Darling’s dog in P.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan. (Mr. Darling was in the doghouse, and had to live in the dog kennel until his children returned, as penance for his mistreatment of Nana.)

Dog-Latin. Pretend or mongrel Latin.