# Finding Nemo question **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 10, 2006, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-nemo-question/356218 "2006-05-10T14:27:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![crazyjoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@crazyjoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crazyjoe)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2006, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-nemo-question/356218/1 "2006-05-10T14:27:24Z")
Findong Nemo is my 2 year-old daughter’s favorite movie, which means we watch it a lot. Luckily, it’s also an extremely well done movie in terms of animation, and it’s interesting to look for new things I hadn’t noticed in prior viewings. This question has nothing to do with those interesting things, however. There is one part of the movie where the Aussie dentist proclaims to his patient that he’s “Going to see a man about a wallabee” and then he proceeds to head into the bathroom. I’m curious as to where this euphamism comes from, and what it means. He doesn’t seem to be in there very long, so I am assuming he’s taking a piss, but he could just be washing his hands or…what? Anyone want to enlighten me? ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2006, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-nemo-question/356218/2 "2006-05-10T14:35:50Z")
All I know it that the phrase is a take off on another one: “I’m going to see a man about a horse” which means going to pee. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2006, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-nemo-question/356218/3 "2006-05-10T14:38:34Z")
I thought it was just an Austrialia-flavored riff on the phrase [I need to see a man about a horse](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/See_a_man_about_a_horse) which is usually just a euphemism for “I gotta pee.” ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2006, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-nemo-question/356218/4 "2006-05-10T14:39:54Z")
> [@Ca3799](#): > > All I know it that the phrase is a take off on another one: “I’m going to see a man about a horse” which means going to pee. I though the standard phrase was “going to see a man about a dog”. (And the dentist’s office is in Sydney, so he’s far more likely to see a dog than a wallaby or a horse on his way to the toilet). ---
**Author:** ![Waenara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2006, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-nemo-question/356218/5 "2006-05-10T14:46:01Z")
Well I’ve heard the phrase “going to see a man about a horse” used as a eumphemism for going to take a piss. I assumed this was just an “Aussie” twist on the phrase, although I’m not sure if it’s in actual usage, or if they just made it up for the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Waenara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2006, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-nemo-question/356218/6 "2006-05-10T14:47:22Z")
:smack: should have hit “preview” ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2006, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-nemo-question/356218/7 "2006-05-10T14:49:05Z")
Google has 19,400 for “see a man about a horse” and 23,800 for “see a man about a dog” – so it looks like both phrases are about equally popular for the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2006, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-nemo-question/356218/8 "2006-05-10T15:53:27Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > Google has 19,400 for “see a man about a horse” and 23,800 for “see a man about a dog” – so it looks like both phrases are about equally popular for the same thing. Some of them may actually be about dogs and horses. Now you have to look at each one to make sure it qualifies. Come back and let us know. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2006, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-nemo-question/356218/9 "2006-05-10T15:53:52Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > I though the standard phrase was “going to see a man about a dog”. I was once at a staff meeting at a veterinary hospital. A veterinarian who was a Texan used the “see a man about a dog” phrase. It caused some problems. The owner of the practice had specifically told the receptionists that the meeting was to be prioritized. He was yelling at the receptionists when the Texan came walking out of the men’s room. Nobody other than Tex had ever heard the phrase before. ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2006, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-nemo-question/356218/10 "2006-05-10T18:30:41Z")
Wow - and I always thought “gotta see a man about a horse” was a euphemism for “I gotta place a bet”. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2006, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-nemo-question/356218/11 "2006-05-10T20:03:13Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > Wow - and I always thought “gotta see a man about a horse” was a euphemism for “I gotta place a bet”. That actually makes sense. Kind of like saying to one’s self “I have to take a pee, but it’s rather rude to announce it to everyone. So, I’ll use the excuse of having to talk to my bookie about placing a bet at the track.” ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2006, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-nemo-question/356218/12 "2006-05-10T20:36:15Z")
It also makes sense that you could be talking to your bookie about a dog (i.e., a greyhound). (But Australian bookmakers are not interested in wallaby races.) ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2006, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-nemo-question/356218/13 "2006-05-10T20:39:32Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > Wow - and I always thought “gotta see a man about a horse” was a euphemism for “I gotta place a bet”. That would go hand-in-glove with another expression, “Gotta piss like a racehorse”. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2006, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-nemo-question/356218/14 "2006-05-10T21:19:23Z")
“See a man about a [dog|horse]” can also mean to go get liquor or drugs. My understanding is that it’s an all-purpose polite excuse to go off and do something that’s not socially acceptable to explicitly mention. It’s a generic euphemism. ---
**Author:** ![solkoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@solkoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solkoe)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2006, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-nemo-question/356218/15 "2006-05-10T22:10:09Z")
Would anyone know how “gotta see a man about a horse” came to mean “gotta take a pee”? ---
**Author:** ![joew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/34f0e0/32.png) [@joew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joew)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2006, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-nemo-question/356218/16 "2006-05-10T22:54:49Z")
Around here, we say “Gotta see a man about a mule,” to mean go to the bathroom or alternatively, I always hear "I gotta pee like a Russian (or maybe just rushin’) Racehorse. Might be a KY thing. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2006, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-nemo-question/356218/17 "2006-05-10T23:50:19Z")
I saw one cartoon where the guy said “I have to go consult with my attorney” when he went to take a leak. We also refer to the men’s room as the “little lawyer’s room” around here.