See a man about a dog

To see a man, to see a man about a dog, or to see a man about a horse is an English language colloquialism, usually used as a smiling apology for one's departure or absence - generally as a bland euphemism to conceal one's true purpose.

Definition

The phrase has several meanings but all refer to taking one's leave for some urgent purpose, especially to go to the bathroom or going to buy a drink. [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Brush up on slang: Going to see a man about a dog. |url= |quote= |publisher=Birmingham Post |date=February 14, 2003 |accessdate=2007-12-28 ] [cite news |first= |last= |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Where did the expression 'see a man about a horse' ... |url= |quote=The New Dictionary of American Slang says the phrase, which began as "see a man about a dog," has been used since the 1880s to take one's leave for some ... |publisher=Boston Globe |date= |accessdate=2007-12-28 ] The original non-facetious meaning was probably to place or settle a bet on a race, thus dogs or horses. [cite book
url=http://books.google.com/books?id=3DiHy31K30oC&pg=PA674&dq=see.a.man.about.a+bet&lr=&as_brr=3&ie=ISO-8859-1&sig=YyGN2rKyoqJZjuyk23Hn8kM62CQ
title=Brewer's Dictionary of Modern Phrase & Fable
last=Ayto
first=John
others=Ian Crofton
year=2006
publisher=Sterling Publishing Company, Inc.
quote=The fiction is that one is going to place a bet on a dog in a race.
isbn=]

Historical Usage

During Prohibition in the United States, "to see a man about a dog" often meant to go meet one's bootlegger. [http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-see1.htm]

The earliest confirmed publication is the 1866 Dion Boucicault play "Flying Scud", 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." [cite book
title=Now You Know: The Book of Answers
author=Doug Lennox
year=2003
publisher=Dundurn Press Ltd.
quote="Seeing a man about a dog" comes from the 1866 play "Flying Scud" where a character says "Excuse me Mr. Quail, I can't stop; I've got to see a man about a dog" meaning he needs to leave the room -- and fast.
isbn=1550025759] During a 1939 revival on the NBC Radio program "America's Lost Plays", TIME magazine observed that the phrase is the play's "claim to fame". [cite news
url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,761735,00.html
title=Prestige Programs
date=July 17 1939
publisher=TIME magazine
quote=This week the Lost Plays series presents Flying Scud, one of six lost dramas by Dion Boucicault. Its claim to fame: the line "I've got to see a man about a dog."
accessdate=2007-12-29]

The phrase "see a dog about a man" is also sometimes used.

;Examples:
* Although they were all out, at the bases, and the rest of our nine having gone to see a man there was nobody to take the bat. ["Ball Players' Chronicle" 12 Sep.3/I, 1867]
* I'm in a rush—gotta see a dog about a man! ["Chicago Tribune" 21 Mar (Comics) 15, 1948]

Appearances in popular culture

*In the 2007 episode The Good, the Bad, and the Dominatrix, Brass and Catherine discuss an employee of a cowboy theme park possibly lying. The scene ends with Brass asking "Well, want to see a man about a horse?" Later, they try interviewing the employee.
*In the 2003 Pixar movie "Finding Nemo", an Australian dentist makes the comment, "I'm going to see a man about a wallaby," and later is seen exiting to the restroom.
*At the conclusion of Tom Waits' 1975 live album Nighthawks at the Diner, Waits excuses himself saying he must see a man about a dog.
*In the 2001 film, A Knight's Tale, Geoffrey Chaucer (Played by Paul Bettany) says, "I have to go see a man about a dog." as an excuse to fulfill his need to gamble.
*The phrase "Going to see a man about a dog" and, later, the phrase "Going to see a dog about a man" when discussing meeting a talking dog, appear in Terry Pratchett's novel "The Truth", published in 2000.
*The phrase "Going to see a dog about a man" appears several times in Wilson Rawls' 1961 classic book Where the Red Fern Grows. The phrase "going to see a man about a dog" is also used.
*The phrase "See a man about a horse" appears in an episode of Veronica Mars, stated by the character Logan Echolls.
*In the Doctor Who serial The Ribos Operation, the Doctor tells K9, a robotic dog, that he is going to "see a man about a dog".
*In the 1947 film, Out of the Past, Whit Sterling (Played by Kirk Douglas) says, "I'm on my way to Mexico City, see a man about a horse."

References

* Ayto, John. "Oxford Slang." 1998.
* Farmer, J.S. and W.E. Henley. "Slang and its Analogues." 1986.
* Chapman, Robert L. "Dictionary of American Slang." 1995.
* Matthews, Mitford M. "A Dictionary of Americanisms." 1951.
* Spears, Richard A. "Slang and Euphemism." 1981.
* Spears, Richard A. "The Slang and Jargon of Drugs and Drink." 1986.

Citations

External links

* [http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-see1.htm "See a man about a dog"] — Michael Quinion's "World Wide Words"