Dogs may be much loved animals and some take the saying ‘love me, love my dog’, literally. For all the love man has for this animal, one wonders why the term ‘dog’ has fallen so low in respectability that no one likes to be associated with it. In Malayalam it is usually the first bad word people use. No harm in calling a dog a dog but dog owners usually do not like even that. The other day my friend was telling me how her relative was aghast when she asked her in Malayalam where her dog (‘patti’) was. She gave her a look which said it all and asked, “You mean Snowy?”
Dog quotes have to be used with caution. Try telling someone, who has failed several times at something, “Every dog has his day” and you will know what I am saying. You cannot say it without the risk of offending them. Hilarious incidents too can happen, especially with those not too familiar with the language. Take the case of this sports editor who was confronted by a group of agitated youngsters because he had dared to call them ‘dogs’!
The editor who had no clue as to what they were saying was told he had used the word ‘underdogs’ in his report! How a prefix changes the meaning of a word; but it was tough explaining it to them. Dogs have captured the imagination of singers and writers. The Beatles sang, ‘It’s been a hard day’s night, and I’ve been working like a dog’. The film ‘Slumdog millionaire’ went on to win the Oscar but even there, was a controversy about the allusion of the word ‘dog’ to the character.
Looks like the word cannot be avoided even if you want to. Even in everyday life we use expressions like ‘He was beaten like a dog’ or at the height of anger someone might refuse an invitation saying, ‘My dog will go for it!’ So what is it that makes a dog’s name have such a lowdown association when the animal is closest to most people’s hearts?
The incongruities of life are truly strange and can never be understood. For instance the donkey for no fault of his is looked down upon as the dumbest and most foolish of all animals though in reality he is not. The fox is associated with cunningness though it is cunning only in hunting food. Man could be all of the above and worse but he is spared any such tags because he rules the world. Individually we could be foolish, cunning, cruel, selfish but as civilised people such emotions should be kept under check. Let us strive to rise above the level of animals, even though they are a misrepresented lot and any day better than us.