As often times happens when I was working on yesterday's blog I was reminded of another saying that my mother liked to use. The phrase "putting on the dog" has a rather lackluster origin. The definition some people believe states that "putting on the dog" came from a colonial custom of making shoes or gloves out of dog skin,but closer examination revealed the expression coming into use around the 1860s and refers to wealthy people with lapdogs. Queen Victoria was given lapdogs as gifts and they became popular in wealthy English families. It had become college slang by 1871,meaning :to make a flashy display,to cut a swell,much the same meaning as it expresses today. The phrases "putting on the Ritz" or "putting on airs" mean the same,but I am not clear on the connection to "putting on the dog".
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