Where Do These Sayings Come From

It's odd. We say so many different sayings and it's usually just something we pick up from family or friends, but we're not really sure where they came from. A saying I know, but know where it came from, is "don't let the bed bugs bite." talking about back when beds were made diferent with rope and so bed bugs were possible!

I read that this phrase originated in 1705 (or earlier) in Great Britain. The British usually say they are "ill" when they are feeling bad, but they are "sick" when they are vomiting. Dogs tend to vomit WAY more than the average human, therefore, to be "as sick as a dog" means there's a lot of vomiting going on. "Sicker than a dog" would be something I'd not like to experience any time soon! I certainly hope you AREN'T sicker than a dog and that you feel ever so much better very, very soon!

When dogs are sick, they want to be alone, glued to their comfort place, either own bed or favorite place. They stay calm and they try to rest, however dogs are always active. We stay in our comfort place (bed) and we are calm. We seems to be sicker, because we are less active than dogs, when we are sick.

Sick as a dog," which means "extremely sick" dates back to at least the 17th century, is also not so much negative as it is simply descriptive. Anyone who knows dogs knows that while they can and often will eat absolutely anything, on those occasions when their diet disagrees with them the results can be quite dramatic. Hence the saying, sick as a dog :)

haha! good one. i have a couple of books with these things in it. but who looks at books these days right? im just going to look at the websites of course this is another fun thing we end up spending time looking up, right?

I always wondered about this saying too until my dog was sick after having eaten and probably aspirated into his lung a part of a rug. He ended up with pneumonia and I have never seen anything more pitiful! He only laid around. He drooled all over and looked incredibly horrible for several days until his antibiotics kicked in. I told people that NOW I knew why they say "sicker than a dog" to compare how badly someone feels. You would have to be REALLY sick to make that comparison!