Whenever I see the sensitive, soulful and beautiful eyes of my dog, Sweety Pie, I am angered by all the misnomers about dogs!

Yet, I can  point out  at least 6 expressions  which are totally untrue since dogs are so loyal to their masters that human bodyguards pale in significance!

It is said that a person who leads “a dog’s life” is a person who leads a life of misery. There can be nothing further from the truth, for a person leading a dog’s life will be abounding in earnestness and sincerity with probably no thought of ever being miserable. Another misnomer which is equally blasphemous, is “to die like a dog”, which means to die miserably. Since dogs are not adept to misery.

Similar is the expression “to go to the dogs” which means a person who is wayward and who hence gets ruined.

For example, I read an article about how some celebrities achieve cult status and then “go to the dogs” as the fame gets to them and affects them. Another derogatory phrase is that one does not even “have a dog’s chance”.

Other misnomers like “to be dog poor”, “to give a dog a bad name and hang him” and “to be raining cats and dogs” – all of which have negative overtones. However, I think the misnomer which is most blatant is the one which says “to be like a dog in the manger”, which implies that the person prevents others from enjoying what is useless to him.

This connotes selfishness and crass meanness which dogs are incapable of ever displaying. How could this person coin this expression when one is aware that dogs are unconditionally selfless and would even give their lives for their owners?

At this point, my dog, Sweety Pie, put out a  gentle and loving bark and I knew that all was right with my world despite all these definitely depreciatory and derogatory misnomers which should rightfully be banned from the English language. Long live the beauty and sensitivity of dogs!