Book Review - You're My Dawg, Dog: a Lexicon of Dog Terms for People

by Donald Friedman with illustrations by J.C. Suarès 

I would say I was as happy as a clam while reading You're My Dawg, Dog, but a dog with two tails fits the bill better. As a person who loves playing with words almost as much as I love playing with my dog, I had a feeling I would enjoy this book when I opened it to this wonderful  introductory paraprosdokian and its adorable accompanying illustration:

Outside of a dog,

a book is man's best friend.

Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.

- Groucho Marx

The book continued to entertain throughout with over 140 canine-based terms, metaphors, idioms and proverbs, and numerous charming illustrations. Having written my master's essay in a large part about animal metaphors, I was surprised that the book even included several terms and expressions that were new to me. Here are a few that I enjoyed:

Doggo (adv) To be still and quiet (lying like a dog) in concealment. "Herb and Sally, nearly caught in flagrante delicto, lay doggo in the thick foliage until the other guests had passed by."

Dog shelf (n) The floor in sarcastic usage. "Hang it on the dog shelf, Herb!' Sally yelled to him indicating that he should throw his coat on the floor, as was his habit."

Why keep a dog and bark yourself? Don't arrange for a task to be accomplished by another and then do it yourself - that's the message of this ancient proverb, found in a 1583 treatise.

In addition to definitions, the book also includes numerous etymologies and several amusing quotes from famous individuals.

Overall, I would call You're My Dawg, Dog a delightful romp in a doggy word park. And Stanley agrees too. Here he is reading his already dog-eared copy.

Illustrations © 2013 J.C. Suarès. www.welcomebooks.com/dawg

Aptly, Fitly, Timely Words

I received a belated birthday gift from a dear friend last week. It was a hand-crafted sign with the above pictured phrase. She purchased it for me because she knows I love words. I don't think either of us knew it was from a Bible verse. Upon looking up the proverb, I learned about some of the various translations.

"A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver." - King James Bible
"Timely advice is lovely, like golden apples in a silver basket." - New Living Translation
"A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver." - English Standard Version
"Like apples of gold in settings of silver Is a word spoken in right circumstances." - New Am. Std. Bible
"A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver." -  King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.) 
"He that speaks the word is an apple of gold in a vessel of beaten silver." - Aramaic Bible
"A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver." - American King James Version 
"A word fitly spoken Is like apples of gold in network of silver." -  American Standard Version 
"To speak a word in due time, is like apples of gold on beds of silver." - Douay-Rheims Bible
"As apples of gold in pictures of silver, is a word spoken in season." - Darby Bible Translation
"A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in baskets of silver." - English Revised Version 
"A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver." - World English Bible
"Apples of gold in imagery of silver, Is the word spoken at its fit times." - Young's Literal Translation

Image credit 
Bible verse translation credits

Sounds Like ... Word Spoonerism

What a profound way of switching sounds and words around to create a clever and appropriate advertisement.

This is just one ad from the new campaign but it is certainly my favorite.

I love the way the verb and adverb from the original proverb play with each other to become a verb and noun phrase.