Ask Mike: The dog ate my answer
Hey Guys,
Let’s talk about excuses for a moment.
Everyone likes to say they don’t like them (“No excuses, people!”), but most of us couldn’t get by without using at least one a week. Some of my favorites include: “My alarm didn’t go off,” “It must have gone to my spam filter,” and “But I didn’t know you were allergic to fish.” Each of those comes in handy, but all owe a debt of gratitude to the grand-daddy of all excuses: “My dog ate my homework.”
Dropping the “dog” line is, of course, now more of a joke now than actual excuse. (Although, for the record, dogs have been known to eat homework on occasion. Slippers, too.) I set out to discover who coined this phrase, but met strong resistance from an Internet that didn’t want to give up the information.
First, I searched on “dog ate my homework origin.” Nothing. I then changed tactics and tried “excuse origin dog ate my homework.” Again, not much. Could it be that nobody knows who coined one of the most famous phrases in the English language? I wasn’t about to give in so easily.
I did some more searches on Yahoo! Answers and then visited a few of my favorite word-origin sites. WordSmith? Nada. WorldWideWords? Nope. The Word Detective? Sorry. Even Phrases.org, a site that has saved my bacon more times than I can count, had nothing on the origin of the world’s lamest excuse.
Soooo, here’s the thing, readers. I was totally going to write an interesting column on who coined the most famous excuse of all time, but well, a dog apparently ate the answer. So now all I’m left with is a bunch of lame excuses. Arghh!
Obviously, I failed to track down an explanation for how this phrase came to exist. But I have faith in the Yahoo! Answers community. Please chime in with your theories and links. More than a few sites explain that “My computer crashed” and “The Internet was down” have replaced “My dog ate my homework.” Thoughts?
Thanks for reading,
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Try to explain to your boss sometime that your dog ate your paycheck! I had a cocker spaniel that really did, there was enough of the check left that I could prove it but it was strange to explain even with the “remaining mangled proof”!
Hello,
The funniest ones I have heard are in Northern Canada when people from some unique cultures go on a binge and don’t show up for work for a few weeks:
” Eh, but my sister’s brother’s duaghter’s niece’saunt died in Yellowknife and I had to help and attend with the funeral! ”
Anyway the gog ate my homework is an old one but even in the late 50′s and 60′s our teacher’s never bought that excuse.
Michael
I wanted to say that I’m one of those people who truly experienced a dog eating my homework (and library books and a college textbook, too!). It happened when my car broke down in the middle of the night, my friends and I had to walk to get help. We found a small home, but no one appeared to be home. Getting tired, we put our stuff down and continued to look for help, finding none. When we returned, everything one ripped apart and a smaller dog standing over them all! I was devastated, and of course, no one believed any of us!
Sorry, I digressed. You wanted to know about the original excuse of “The dog ate my homework.” I simply used the word “etymology” with this term and found the following:
http://sites.google.com/site/comm1007/
Jan. 12, 1835) Finding himself unable to complete his overdue essay, Henry Pennywhistle becomes the first person in history to claim that his dog ate his homework.
I hope this helps!
The origin?
Maybe a dog actually ate someones homework?
if i didnt do a piece of homework and teacher asks why, i just say i didnt do it end of.
Hi there Mike!
I don’t think I can help, but in the process of searching I found this list of excuses http://www.jobprofiles.org/library/students/the-ferris-bueller.htm
It’s very funny, but it might also come in handy, you know, if your old excuses get… well, “old”
Wow thats really stinks dude can you do a copy of your work for a back-up homework, so the next time in for class you wont have to worry about the dog ate my homework again.
As a teacher, I am prone to listening and ‘believing’ so many excuses from my students. Lately, I have to even include some of their parents in those unlimited lists of why projects are not completed on time (especially when you send home the project report sheet that must be signed by the parent…and includes all the materials and information student will need along with the DATES OF TURN IN.) I am so disappointed when I give 6 weeks to do a project with sign-offs along the way and then the final day of presentation- parents call and ask for extentions with the same excuses – my computer crashed, or I ran out of ink. I leave no room for excuses and parents are often upset because they have signed off knowing all along they are not being truthful. The message they are sending to their kids is what is upsetting to me.
I had to laugh though at the “dog ate my homework’. I had a dog once. I was working on my lesson plan at the table and left for more pens. Upon my return, I found my lovely Lapso had my lesson plan in her mouth making munchies. So, I do understand that dogs “can” and will eat paper. LOL
I have been guilty of excuses in my past, but the more I learn about myself and the older I get – I have learned to own up to the error of my ways. If there are consequences involved- so be it. I try better the next time around.
At school the most common excuse in ‘my computer crashed’ or ‘my printer doesn’t work’. Teachers generally tell us we should have done it on paper when we use those though…
I believe the excuse came back to the first human beings when the men would go out hunting and when they got home with nothing, they would say that a wolf and the catch or they got atacked by something to try to regain some masculinity in front of everyone else, and we all know that dogs evolved from wolves, so when people started started keeping dogs, they started to blame everything on the dog, then when homework came about and students did not do the homework they blamed it on the dog.
p.s. one time my guinea pig ate my whole binder and math book, so I just gathered everything I could and brought it to school as proof, it cost me 55$ for a new math book and a week to get the notes I had recopied that sent me back another 12,45$.
Lol! I totally agree!
Interesting post!
I too have searched and cannot find the answer.
Looks like no one knows!
I agree, no one uses the dog excuse anymore it’s always something related to techology,especially ‘My printer broke’.
I don’t know who coined the expression but It would have to be 20th century because homework wasn’t assigned prior to then. Books were too precious and hard to come by to leave the school. Arithmetic was about all that was assigned and that because you could write the practice problems down. In the late 19th century the excuse wouldn’t work because some country schools still used slates.
Interesting that the answer was right here on yahoo answers!
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091002114825AASeP2Y
my friends use the whole “i don’t have a computer, or i don’t have a phone!!!”
No, but if they dog ate my pens and pencils then i could not do my homework if it was an assigned worksheet that could not be printed out on my printer.
And by the way, the dog has also eaten my lawn sprinkler, my cat’s poop from the litter box, my blanket, my daughter’s polly pockets, my husband’s hamburger off the counter, my cat’s toys, my other dog’s poop, what else??
Ah, but there was at least one occasion when my CAT ate my homework and I said it with such a straight face b/c it was true, I felt like an idiot, even though it WAS true.
Heres my theory:
-Someones dog really, truly, ate his homework. Peole laughed , and must have thought the excuse was clever but untrue. So in teasing and in fun and maybe in attempt to get away with not doing homework, other used the phrase.
We dont always know who said what first but somethings (sill or not) become catchy or popular. Have you ever stopped to wonder who coined the God-Awful phrase “‘Sup Dog”? Probably not, but someone sure did and I doubt we would find the answer to that either.
Youve got me curious and have definetly sparked my interest, I will be researching this tonight… LOL
I too have searched and cannot find the answer.
Looks like no one knows!
I agree, no one uses the dog excuse anymore it’s always something related to techology,especially ‘My printer broke’.
Comment posted on March 25th, 2010 at 12:51 pm by Jenny2210
My dog actually DID eat my homework when I was young. I redid it thankfully, but took both the remains of the eaten homework and the new uneaten homework to my teacher. Told her my dog ate my homework and she almost sent me to the principal’s office. At least until I showed her my evidence!
rofl this is too funny
The dog ate my homework will always be the excuse. Usually if it’s my printer broke it’s actually happened because technology is so stupid. Nothing can ever replace “The dog ate my homework” it’s impossible.
Not kidding last month someone turned in their take-home math exam with a big slobbery wet bite taken out of one of the pages… her pet pig had snuck up on her and eaten 1/3rd of one of the pages before she could pull it away…
And I have been guilty of turning in homework that my parrots have used as beak sharpeners… well… the edges are now “confetti”.
I guess the dog excuse isn’t used any more because its too old and people just make up a sick excuse like pneumonia..
Plus, this excuse was used by little kids and the event of the dog eating up up isn’t very feasable, and teachers don’t tend to believe it…but it’s still the funniest, though.
“But I didn’t know you were allergic to fish.”
How does that come in handy often?
“A dog ate my homework” is not an important phrase or any grand-daddy of phrases. It was just a small trend that’s been scantily joked about for a few decades. It isn’t even important enough to have research on its foundation: because it’s stupid. It was always there to depict some sort of moron that didn’t have their act together or something. It’s a comedic crutch. Your entire foundation on this post is lacking.
I feel sorry for the person that had to write this for their job, and even more sorry for a person that writes this in their free time. This is dumb. I’m assuming you were paid to do this but you need a better job. I mean, I understand how it is in the economy and everything.
Maybe they’re paying you good money
idk
Yes, technology feels much more plausible than hungry dogs. (Not that anyone will believe you, but that’s just standard policy.)
However, I have used the excuse in a modified version -”my dog drooled on my homework”- because he did.
Hi:
the reason for why you can’t find – the dog eat my homework escuse – is because that the excuse kids give teachers for not doing there homework. and it as old as school itself – but around the 1900′s most kids had dogs that where semi train around the house but they would chew shoes,towels, socks, and some case paper item like the kids homework, when most kids would have problem doing there homework and Most parents back than, lacking the pacient to help there kids with there homework , Most kid would called the dog in and give them there home and the dog being dumb would chew on it . So the kid would say that knowing there is no way for the teacher to prove them wrong . Hoping that the teacher would write it down as a loss and give them a passing grade or make them redo the homework again hopely do ing better with it.
the doumented case Was in a Our Gang Movie with Spanky,Alapha, darlia…ect where the dog would really come in and eat the homework the kid left on the floor to go play baseball with his friends and Since than kids would give there teacher that excuse
I hope this helps.
In the 21st century we have so many different things for our pets that we have classified them as being more than just animals. Now that we have accessible obedience training, recreation centers, and high tech chew toys for our pets that they no longer have a reason to chew up anything else.
So in pre-1980′s society, the phrase was used quite often because the dog eating the homework was a very common occurrence. It even happened to ME! A few years back I was taking an enrichment course that was mandated by my employer. The instructor gave us homework and so I did it on the living room coffee table. I walked away and about an hour later I discovered shredded paper all over the house. The next day I went to the class and told the instructor, “Yes.. I did the assignment but I will need more time to hand it in. You aren’t going to believe what happened…”
Yeah though its a classic excuse.. Now it tends to be the one people definitly dont believe. I cant remmeber the last tie I heard someone use it for real.
interesting take on the matter.
enjoy regularly reading your posts.
Keep it up!
Jay Jay
AND I DID USE THAT EXCUSE AND MY TEACHER LOOKED AT ME LIKE I WAS NUTS THEN I SHOWED HIM THE REMAINS OF MY SPELLING BOOK,AND THE CHEW MARKS
How could this be anything other than some creative screenwriter, or perhaps a truly spontaneous occurrence in an early 20th-century schoolroom?
I gues it all started when it did really happened, so when it worked everybody started to use it. Um anyway, people always forget who did the most simpliest and maybe stupid but awesome things in the world.
according to that it was first used in 1893. How reliable that is…. IDK.
My printer ran out of ink.
There was traffic on the freeway.
you’re not the first to ask, and probably not the last, but it’s a tidbit disappearing from the English lexicon.
The truth is we will never know who started it because it’s something that we all know just happens. Dogs eat homework and computers crash. The latter replacing the former with our tech’d out kids, some day the question will arise over who started the joke “My laptop ate my homework!”
http://www.chacha.com/question/where-did-the-my-dog-ate-my-homework-excuse-originate
The dog ate my computer
If you want my opinion, there is no ‘unique’ origin to the excuse “the dog ate my homework.” My guess is either it legitimately occurred to enough kids back in the day that it became a well known joke (excuse) or at least enough to catch on with other students to see that for a short period, it actually worked. You even said it yourself earlier in your blog that dogs have been known to eat homework (and slippers).
Kids have always been crafty when developing excuses, and even worse, it tends to stick with us as adults. It’s not unreasonable to think that some kid years ago schemed it up to get an extra extension on his already over-due paper
ha. I guess the world will never know who came up with our most famous excuse.
*** This is a re-post, I didnt see my answer come up, so just tryin again
the only reference i could really find was this reference to a book…. Murphy, Sally Doggy duo : Little dog ; My dog ate my homework 3-4
ISBN 978-1-87692-848-3 (pbk.) ( 1876928484 )
Call Number JF MUR
Personal Author Murphy, Sally.
Title Little dog ; My dog ate my homework / Sally Murphy ; illustrated by Teresa Culkin-Lawrence.
Varying Form of Title My dog ate my homework.
Publication Details Miranda, N.S.W. :
and this on google
1066 AD – Wikijunior:Langues/Anglais En 1066, l’Angleterre fut conquise par Guillaume de Normandie. Guillaume devint roi … I love you | Je t’aime. | My dog ate my homework.
From 1. 1. Untitled – Related web pages – Filter – Save – History – Filter – Save – History
fr.wikibooks.org/wiki/Spécial:Recherche …
and this on Wiki books
Résultats de la recherche
Créer la page « Guillaume I Le Bé » sur ce wiki !
* Wikijunior:Langues/Anglais
En 1066, l’Angleterre fut conquise par Guillaume de Normandie. Guillaume devint roi … I love you | Je t’aime. | My dog ate my homework. | …
13 Kio (1 615 mots) – 28 mars 2009 à 10:44
Actually, what really has replaced the dog ate my homework is “My printer wasn’t working”.
I have a cat that eats paper!!
At least many companys, like the elct. or Gas Co. get a good laugh, out of it.
Today as I finished making out our Taxes, layed them on the table to get sighed. Yep, ‘Georgie’ ‘ate’ a few coners off a few of them. I think I managed to tape them up well. Hope the IRS things so.
Are there Computers in jail? You might not heare from me for awaile if there isn’t…LOL
Acutally I know, on October 12th, 1893, a third-grader named Winslow Greenbay made history. On that day, he showed up for school without his Latin assignment. When the teacher asked for it, Winslow searched his mind for a clever excuse and blurted, “My dog ate it!”
Now, this may not strike you as particularly creative. But it was actually a breakthrough. According to historians, this was the first time that the world’s most famous excuse was used!
hola q tal??????
Well what do you know – I couldn’t find the origin either, but my search came up with these “alternative questions”
* What do I do my dog ate food
* Who was the actress whose dog ate her
* What do you do for a dog that ate chocolate
* How can I tell if my dog ate batteries
* Do you know that my dog ate my house
* What do you do if your dog ate some gunpowder
* How can you tell if a dog ate a scorpion
* What should I do if my dog ate my cell phone
* What do I do if my dog ate an ant trap
Dogs eating batteries I can get, but gunpowder? That’s not a good combination!
LOL! Actually one I hear a lot in school, is the famous…my printer ran out of ink, or it broke. I guarantee i hear every month again and again
Maybe a dog ate a kid’s homework, the kid told the teacher, the teacher thought it was too crazy to happen, and the teacher thought it was an excuse.
More kids around the country got dogs, then voila, you got a eating problem with those few irresponsible kids. :O Then the teachers go to an annual teacher meeting festival and discuss this problem about dogs, then the whole world is using this excuse. Then you have yourself a crazy excuse, via osmosis!
…It could have happened….
Mike, Like your comments. My often used excuse(lie) is , I have to drive,whoever, to the airport. It really is an all day excuse what with driving a a distance of many miles ,freeway traffic,having to get there early,sitting with who ever, and then the drive back through rush hour traffic. But about the dog eating your homework, I have a cat who chewed apart a presentation I had worked on for days. Even the the plastic cover was in shreds! Love your blog.
maybe the kid was telling the truth but the teacher didnt belive him and thought that that kid was joking. what i hear in school a lot is that my computer broke. um…some assignments doesnt require computer or u can go to the library to do it, u know but when they students say it sometime the teachers buy it too. too much biased stuff going on
I’m afraid that most of Yahoo! answers is made up of kids whose dogs have eaten their homework, who now are getting smarter people to play fetch for their assignments…
my sister had the strangest excuse she told her teacher in elementary school and it worked.
she told the teacher she didn’t have her spelling because her little sister ate it. the teacher believed her (the teacher knew my youngest sister lol).
gotta love that!
The funniest thing I’ve experienced was happened day in school. Someone had opened up the window and a girl by the window suddenly stood up and yelled “My homework flew out the window!!” The teacher tried to be angry at her and thought it might’ve been just an excuse for not having her homework done. However, once the girl’s claim was validated all the class was in a laughing fit until the girl had come back from retrieving the assignment. It was really funny.
The first time I heard of the “Dog ate my homework” was in 1966 or 1967. A classmate of mine was asked to produce his math homework. He said he was unable to do so. The teacher, a Mrs. Wright asked why he had not done his homework and he replied “My dog ate my math book”. She did not believe him till he pulled out a severly mangled math book. He owned a great Dane. He said he had placed the book on the ledge by the back door when he got home and when he went to get it after supper to do the homework the dog had been using it as a chew toy.