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Inside The WordhuntMan's Best FriendWe can thank our canine companions for a huge variety of words and phrases, from dog’s dinner to houndstooth. Wordhunters have helped dig up some evidence for these canine conundrums, but the OED still want you to sniff around for more. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external web sites. dog and boneUPDATE: Still unsolved - can you help? WANTED: Verifiable evidence before 1961. The telephone as we know it came into being in 1876, but the earliest evidence of its rhyming slang moniker is from 1961, would you adam and eve it? Cockneys, scratch your loaves and think, do you have earlier evidence of this expression? Go and have a butcher’s! the dog's bollocksUPDATE: Entry updated with the help of the Wordhunt! WANTED: Verifiable evidence before 1989. According to the OED, the cat’s whiskers and the bee’s knees have both referred to ‘the acme of excellence’ since 1923, but the rather coarser dog’s bollocks doesn’t appear until 1985, courtesy of Viz magazine. Is this right, or can you dig up earlier evidence? mucky pupUPDATE: Earlier evidence found through the Wordhunt! WANTED: Verifiable evidence before 1984. Were you branded a mucky pup as a habitually messy child (or adult) before 1984? If you can sniff out earlier evidence you’ll make the OED happier than a dog with two tails. shaggy dog storyUPDATE: Earlier evidence found through the Wordhunt! WANTED: Verifiable evidence before 1946; information on the origins of the phrase. Were yarn spinners telling shaggy dog stories before 1946? And did the first one actually involve a dog that was shaggy? There are many theories about early canine tales, but the crucial evidence has yet to be unearthed. Can you help to sniff it out? And do get straight to the point. No time-wasters please! sick puppyUPDATE: New entry written with the help of the Wordhunt! WANTED: Verifiable evidence before 1984 This is not literally a young dog in need of veterinary attention, but the slang term for an individual who acts a little strangely. The OED are preparing a draft entry for this term, and have evidence dating from 1985. Can you trump that? |
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