June 16, 2011

Bring unto me the little puppy dogs

What is it with certain expressions? They're idiotic but people continue to use them.

"He follows him around like a little puppy dog." 

People, it's a puppy or a dog, not a puppy dog. Do you also say, "Look at the cute kitten cat?" You probably do, don't you? After all, this is the internet and it goes where none have gone before -- even to your house.

Doe deer, colt horse, chick chicken. We say none of these things yet we stick with "puppy dog".

This kind of phrasing is from the same mental neighborhood as a term used by the police. When looking for a body, they always like to bring along a sniffer dog.

Indeed. Gah.

2 comments:

Anna Guess Pick said...

This is a YouTube ad for Puppy Dog learning. It has to be an example of the most non-stimulating educational tool I have ever seen - maybe 'puppy dog' is an appropriate use of the term after all.

"It's never too early to encourage language development in your child, and once again, Puppy Dog makes learning fun. Get ready to see your child engage all their senses while beginning to understand the relationship sounds, words, and images have to each other."

http://youtu.be/gsfoveoJwbs

Sorry for the interruption.

writenow said...

That is the strangest video. It seems like it would confuse an infant. It's kind of ghostly and scary too. I certainly wouldn't show it to my kid, if'n I had one. And to think that it's a Puppy Dog video! How sweet.