dog's life
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English
Pronunciation
Audio (General Australian): (file)
Noun
dog's life (plural dogs' lives)
- (idiomatic) A miserable, wretched existence.
- (idiomatic) A life of indolence where the individual may do as he or she pleases, just like a pampered dog.
Usage notes
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 sense 2.
Translations
miserable life
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pampered life
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- 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
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Further reading
- Michael Quinion (January 30, 1999) “It's a dog's life”, in World Wide Words.