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September 27, 2005
Who Had Sex With My Dog???
My interest was piqued yesterday when Beth - The Everyday Fiancé - questioned the origin of the phrase "Screwed The Pooch."
Here is what I have been able to come up with:
"Screwed the Pooch" is actually a 'polite' way of saying "Dicked the Dog," an expression used in the U.S. Navy since the 1800's. The phrase originally meant to loaf around on the job or to be lazy. Over time the usage changed and "Dicking the Dog" was a way of saying that someone had made a very grave or costly mistake.
As far as I can tell, the first time the term "Screwed the Pooch" was used in lieu of "Dicked the Dog" was in the 1979 novel The Right Stuff by Thomas Wolfe.
Screwing the pooch in New Orleans, perhaps?
| By Joshua Daniels | 9:42 PM