Sometimes I like to throw a curve ball and include an antiquated saying in my column just to keep my readers on their toes, and perhaps acquaint them with something old which is new to them! Well, here goes; and it’s a fairly lengthy one!

“Dog my cats” is an obsolete expression which was used to convey surprise, amazement or annoyance. I remember well one of my uncles saying it in 1960, or thereabouts. The earliest known citation of a similar phrase in print was in 1853 in A Stray Yankee in Texas, by Phillip Paxton and Samuel Hammett: “Dog on my cat.”

This saying seems to have been in common use from at least the mid-19th to the mid-20th century, as was utilized by numerous authors in fictional works, the first being Pike County Ballads, John Hay, 1871.

It was cited by Mark Twain, in "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" (1884), several times, including this example on page 164:

“So I slipped back the one I had, and when she got done counting she says: ‘Huh, dog my cats! There’s 10 now and she looked bothered.”  

Joel Chandler Harris cited it in Uncle Remus, 1908, page 247:

“‘Dog my cats ef de seetfulness er dat jug don’t git away wid me,’ continued Uncle Remus, with a chuckle …”

In these works it is attributed to Southern African American dialect, which seems most likely to have been its origin. But it was picked up by those of European descent as well, as evidenced in The Republican Congressional Committee publication, Grant and Wilson Campaign Songbook, 1872, in a song titled Chap, Chap Paw Quaw:

“Sick of buzzard, don't like crow, We must win or starve, you know, Dog my cats, if I can see Where's the end for men like me.”

As late as 1858 "The Boulder," the yearbook of Fitchburg High School, Fitchburg, Massachusetts, we find this dialogue on page 116:

“Thank you, Large. I don’t know. Com’ on! Cut it out. Well, dog my cats! Wanna bet? Let’s go you guys. I’m happy for ya!”

There you have it! If you have ever heard this expression before, please let me know!

If you have a phrase you would like to see featured here, please text Stan at 931-212-3303 or email him at stan@stclair.net