Origin of dog-eat-dogFirst recorded in 1930–35
Ruthlessly competitive: “You have to look out for your own interests; its a dog-eat-dog world.”The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
— I never thought kindergarten could be a dog eat dog world but the parents of these kids are really aggressive.
Can you imagine a dog eating another dog? Well, that would be a ruthless, cruel and a very extreme way to survive.
— Do you really want to become a professional tennis player? Its a dog eat dog world on the tennis circuit.
— We played games at the baby shower and I couldnt believe it was so dog eat dog—everyone wanted to win the prizes.
— You might not believe it but you must have a dog eat dog attitude to be successful in beauty pageants.
What about “cat got your tongue?” This question is used when someone is at a loss of words or being unusually quiet. If someone asks you if the cat has got your tongue, it means you seem to be speechless and can’t think of something to say. “What’s the matter Lucy, cat got your tongue?”
An idiom is a combination of words that have a symbolic meaning. Understanding and using idioms is tricky because an idiom’s meaning is different from that of the words that comprise it. We know it’s hard, but we’re here to help!
Alright, lets begin with “dog-eat-dog”. This expression refers to a place or situation that is highly competitive. In a dog-eat-dog world, people will do whatever it takes to be successful, even if that means harming others. Here’s an example: “The music industry is dog-eat-dog; one day you’re on top and the next, everyone forgot you!”
And the last one for today, “let the cat out of the bag”. You do this when you accidentally reveal information you weren’t supposed to, like sharing a secret. “Tim let the cat out of the bag about my surprise birthday party”.
Mariana Aguilar Ramírez Mariana is a Pedagogy and Research summer associate at Voxy completing her Master’s degree in Learning, Media and Technology at UMass Amherst with a Fulbright- García Robles grant. She is passionate about instructional design, educational technology and has been teaching ESL in Mexico for many years. She has studied foreign languages all her life and is now tackling German. She loves to travel and spends a lot of time in the kitchen perfecting her ice-cream making skills.
Dog Eat Dog Idiom Meaning – English Expression Videos
This is the American English definition of dog eat dog.View British English definition of dog eat dog.