dog's life

English

Etymology

First use appears c. 1528. See cite below.

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

dog's life (plural dogs' lives)

1. (idiomatic) A miserable, wretched existence.
   • 1528, J. Strype, Fox Manuscripts, page 174:

     Mr. Ford afterwards had a dogs life among them.

2. (idiomatic) A life of indolence where the individual may do as they please, just like a pampered dog.

Usage notes

• Most often expressed as it's a dog's life or to lead a dog's life.

• Originally the term referred to the hard life of the working dog: sleeping in a damp barn, chasing rats and other intruders, living on scraps, etc. Today, however, it has in some circles acquired the completely opposite connotation indicated in the second sense.

Translations

miserable life

• Danish: hundeliv n
• Finnish: koiranelämä (fi)
• French: vie de chien f, vie de galérien f
• German: Hundeleben n
• Greek: σκυλίσια ζωή (el) f (skylísia zoḯ)
• Italian: vita da cani f
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: hundeliv n

  Nynorsk: hundeliv n

• Polish: pieskie życie (pl) n
• Portuguese: vida de cão f
• Russian: соба́чья жизнь (ru) f (sobáčʹja žiznʹ)

pampered life

• Finnish: kissanpäivät (fi) pl
• French: vivre comme un coq en pâte (fr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} hondenleven (nl) n
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} vida de perros f
• Vietnamese: ^{(please verify)} số chó

Further reading

• Michael Quinion (January 30, 1999) “It's a dog's life”, in World Wide Words.

Anagrams

• God's life