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So where did the saying “Every dog has it’s day” or “Every dog has his day” come from? I did some research and found the phrase is over 450 years old. It became popularized from Hamlet by William Shakespeare in the early 1600’s. However, there are various forms of it that originated earlier.
The meaning of the quote in our current era, “Every dog has its day or every dog has his day” is very simple. It means everyone gets a chance eventually; or that everyone is successful during some period in their life. (Example: Don’t worry, you’ll get chosen for the team. Every dog has its day. You may become famous someday. Every dog has his day.) This is from the McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
Here is a brief history on the famous quote we recite today: A dogge hath a day. [1545 R. Taverner tr. Erasmus’ Adages (ed. 2) 63] Let Hercules himself do what he may, The cat will mew, and dog will have his day. [1600-1 Shakespeare Hamlet v. i. 286] s.v. Fevrier, Euerie dog hath his day. [1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & English] Dogs, ye have had your day; ye fear’d no more Ulysses vengeful from the Trojan shore. [1726 Pope Odyssey V. xxii.] How changed for Marat, lifted from his dark cellar!‥All dogs have their day; even rabid dogs. [1837 Carlyle French Revolution III. i. i.]
Young blood must have its course, lad, And every dog his day. [1863 C. Kingsley Water Babies ii.] ‘She could be his sister.’ ‘No way—not with a face like that.’ ‘Well, every dog deserves his day.’ [1978 ‘M. Craig’ Were He Stranger x.]
PAWSITIVE NOTE: So today I want to remind you that every dog has its day! If your time to shine has not come yet, it will. All you have to do is believe and focus all your energy into it.
Every Dog Has Its Day Meaning
Definition: Everyone, even someone of low social status, has a moment of glory or an opportunity for revenge.
Sometimes people change the pronoun and use the variation every dog has his day.
EVERY DOG HAS HIS DAY – “According to the medieval Dutch scholar Erasmus, the saying came about as a result of the death of the Greek playwright Euripides, who in 405 B.C. was mauled and killed by a pack of dogs loosed upon him by a rival. Thus the saying is usually taken to mean that even the most lowly person will at some time get revenge on his oppressor, no matter how powerful the man may be. The Greek biographer Plutarch recorded the proverb for the first time in Moralia (A.D. c. 95) rendering it as Even a dog gets his revenge, and Richard Taverner included the first version in English – A dogge hath a day – centuries later in his Proverbes or Adages .What was virtually the modern form appeared in John Rays A collection of English Proverbs as Every dog hath his day.” From Wise Words and Wives Tales: The Origins, Meanings and Time-Honored Wisdom of Proverbs and Folk Sayings Olde and New; by Stuart Flexner and Doris Flexner (Avon Books, New York, 1993).
Every dog has its day |Most Common English Idioms (Easy to Use in Daily Conversations)| #17
Every dog has its day is an English idiom meaning that everyone gets their moment. Although this particular idiomatic expression is English, the meaning and similar uses of every dog has its day is not exclusive to English-speaking countries. Ancient Greeks, Romans, and other Europeans have used similar terms in published writings for several centuries. Depending on the specific context used, the term may mean that even the lowliest man gets an opportunity to overcome his oppressors or an opportunity to right wrongs committed against him. Modern use, on the other hand, typically means that everyone, regardless of political or socioeconomic standing, gets a chance to enjoy a modicum of success, even if only for a brief period.
While the idiom every dog has its day has come, in modern times, to mean every person gets their chance or has a turn at success, such meanings were not always understood. During ancient times and continuing into medieval times, most people understood similar comparisons to every dog has its day to reference revenge. Both Plutarch and Shakespeare, for example, referenced such implied meanings in works produced long before the English idiom as it is known today.
Plutarch, a Greek historian and essayist first used a similar phrase in 95 A.D. Specifically, Plutarch phrased his use of the concept as “…even a dog gets his revenge.” Used in such context, Plutarch referenced the rights of those unjustly oppressed or whose integrity was questioned to rise up and reclaim their freedom, dignity, and destiny. Context clues in Plutarchs writing suggest that the writer favored every dog has its day and similar idioms to mean that even the lowliest man has the right and opportunity to better his situation, fight back against oppression, or contribute to society in a meaningful, honorable way.
Shakespeare used a similar phrase in Hamlet. During act 5, scene 1, Hamlet speaks to Queen Gertrude and King Claudius, moments after the famous line “Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him…” Just prior to exiting the stage at the end of the scene, Hamlets last line reads “…Let Hercules himself do what he may. The cat will mew and dog will have his day.”
In this portion of the play, Hamlet grieved over the lost Ophelia, fighting with Laertes in an open grave. While King Claudius stopped the fighting, Hamlet, in his last statement before exiting the stage, vows that wrongs will be righted. By using a strikingly similar idiom to every dog has its day, Hamlet meant that he would have the opportunity, at some point in the future, to right any perceived wrongs committed against himself or Ophelia.