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doggo. In concealment. The Oxford English Dictionary dates the first appearance of this term to an 1893 work by Rudyard Kipling: “I wud lie most powerful doggo whin I heard a shot.” The Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang names the origin as a reference to “a trained dog's playing dead.” Evan Morris comments that “this explanation shows a lack of experience with dogs. Dogs are natural masters of studied impassivity and need no training in the art. A dog who does not wish to be involved in a particular situation (a bath, for instance) will pretend to be asleep, and if an attempt is made to rouse it, will then pretend to be in a deep coma. No one can lie doggo as well as a dog.” Humorous as Mr. Morris's observations are, I find his interpretation no more credible than that of the editors at Random House. Drawing on the Kipling line, I imagine the narrator cringing and cowering as shots fly: exactly the kind of submissive behavior you would expect of a dog when it is threatened. |
1. The Oxford English Dictionary Online. 2005. (3d ed.) Oxford University Press. Accessed from http://dictionary.oed.com. 2. Lighter, J. E. and Random House (Firm). 1994. Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang. New York: Random House. 3. Morris, Evan. June 13, 2000 2000. Coma Doggie. The Word Detective. Accessed Oct. 21 2001 from http://www.word-detective.com/ 042601.html#doggo. |
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| About the illustration: Adapted from an image that appears on a “Doggie Doormat” with the added inscription: “Dog hiding in bushes behind you. He knows you're here. Ring bell. Act as if nothing is wrong.” Shawn Shipman, artist © High Cotton, Inc. Reproduced by permission. | |||||||
| see also: lazy as a dog; let sleeping dogs lie | Last updated: February 11, 2008 | ||||||
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