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Phrase: Work like a dog
Have you ever wondered what happened to the promise of technology, enhancing our lives and making work easier?
Doesn’t it feel that instead of work becoming more manageable, it’s become harder?
Wouldn’t you agree we’re all working like dogs?
Well, if your dog is anything like mine, she doesn’t work at all.
Sorachan’s only responsibility is to be a stress sponge for my wife and me.
A few pats on the head (her head, not mine), and I’m ready to go back to work with renewed vigour.
So, to get back to the phrase, work like a dog.
To work like a dog means to work extremely hard.
I suppose it comes from the time when dogs worked on farms and not when they were kept solely as indoor pets.
Back in those days, and still today, if you live on a farm and have sheep, goats, cows or anything else to herd, dogs worked extremely hard.
It was their job to protect the flock or herd and help drive them where they needed to go.
No, dogs could not ‘drive’ as in driving a car.
Drive can also mean to chase or frighten animals into persuading them to go where you desire them to go.
These animals worked dusk to dawn and sometimes longer to ensure the farmer had a good day.
Now, things have modernized.
While we are the ones to go out and work like a dog until the late hours of the night, our pets are enjoying the beautiful homes for which we are working to pay.
Ah, it’s a dog’s life.
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Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test
This post is understandable by someone with at least a 6th-grade education (age 11).
On the Flesch-Kincaid reading-ease test, this post scores 82.
The higher the score on a scale of 0 – 100, the easier the passage is to read.