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Americans
use many expressions with the word "dog". People in the United States
love their dogs and treat them well. However,
dogs without owners to care for them lead a different kind of life. The
expression, to lead a dog's life, describes a person who has an unhappy
existence.
Some
people say we live in a dog-eat-dog world. They
say that to be successful, a person has to work like a dog. This means they
have to work very, very hard. Such hard work can make people dog-tired. And,
the situation would be even worse if they became sick as a dog.
This means that
every person enjoys a successful period during his or her life. To be
successful, people often have to learn new skills. Yet, some people say that you
can never teach an old dog new tricks. They believe that older people do not
like to learn new things and will not change the way they do things.
People who are
unkind or uncaring can be described as meaner than a junkyard dog. Junkyard dogs
live in places where people throw away things they do not want. Mean dogs are
often used to guard this property. They bark or attack people who try to enter
the property. However, sometimes a person who appears to be mean and
threatening is really not so bad. We say his bark is worse than his bite.
Dog expressions
are also used to describe the weather. The dog days of summer are the hottest
days of the year. A rainstorm may cool the weather. But we do not want it to
rain too hard.
A. Some people are
compared to dogs in bad ways.
B. Dogs are people's
loyal friends all the time.
C. Still, people
say every dog has its day.
D. They take their
dogs for walks, let them play outside and give them nice meals.
E. That means many
people are competing for the same things, like good jobs.
F. Sometimes,
morning rain can light up the day.
G. We do not want
it to rain cats and dogs.
