# Seeing a man about a dog ... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 9, 2013, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-a-man-about-a-dog/657898 "2013-05-09T16:09:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![scootergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@scootergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scootergirl)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-a-man-about-a-dog/657898/21 "2013-05-10T01:17:42Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I knew a Texan who always said “he had to see a man about a dog” whenever he headed to the bathroom. > > He was the _only_ person I ever heard say this, and nobody ever knew what he meant. I lived in Texas for a few years - I also knew someone who used this phrase in the same manner. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-a-man-about-a-dog/657898/22 "2013-05-10T02:14:17Z")
In my experience…always horse and always meaning they were going to go pee in the bushes, weeds, trees or whatever while drinking outdoors. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-a-man-about-a-dog/657898/23 "2013-05-10T02:17:32Z")
> [@Hockey\_Monkey](#): > > I had an ex-boyfriend who said he “had to see a man about a mule” when he was going to buy pot. Buying weight? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-a-man-about-a-dog/657898/24 "2013-05-10T02:23:26Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > Melbourne, Australia. > Always, only, about a dog. Yeah, with the horse it probably means something else. ---
**Author:** ![stui\_magpie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stui_magpie/32/11010_2.png) [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-a-man-about-a-dog/657898/25 "2013-05-10T03:37:02Z")
Only ever the dog, never heard the horse variation ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-a-man-about-a-dog/657898/26 "2013-05-10T03:45:47Z")
I’ll wager this is a generational thing. I’ll wager “horse” is older. I’ll be back to tell you. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-a-man-about-a-dog/657898/27 "2013-05-10T03:57:50Z")
Guess I’m wrong. Michael Quinion writes a great blog on linguistics. > **[World Wide Words: See a man about a dog](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-see1.htm)** > > A questioner asks about the origin of 'see a man about a dog'. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-a-man-about-a-dog/657898/28 "2013-05-10T04:09:32Z")
I’ve commonly heard both, and always to mean going to the john. EDIT: Now that I think about it, the “horse” version may have been more common back in Texas. (Here in Thailand, men say they’re going to go “shoot a rabbit,” ladies that they’re going to go “pick some flowers.”) ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-a-man-about-a-dog/657898/29 "2013-05-10T04:20:44Z")
Never heard of this expression before in my life! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-a-man-about-a-dog/657898/30 "2013-05-10T04:22:29Z")
“… about a horse.” Or, “I’ve got to visit the little [whatever your job is]'s room.” Or, “I need to go make my bladder gladder.” ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-a-man-about-a-dog/657898/31 "2013-05-10T04:54:58Z")
You go on ahead, I just saw a tree that needs watering. ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-a-man-about-a-dog/657898/32 "2013-05-10T05:15:23Z")
I’ve never heard either one of those phrases, or any other variation, used in real life. The most recent non-IRL example I’ve heard comes from the dentist in Finding Nemo who says he’s going to see a man about a wallaby as he’s heading to the bathroom. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-a-man-about-a-dog/657898/33 "2013-05-10T05:27:21Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I knew a Texan who always said “he had to see a man about a dog” whenever he headed to the bathroom. > > He was the _only_ person I ever heard say this, and nobody ever knew what he meant. I’m not a Texan (nor do I play one on TV), but I have been saying that for that reason ever since I first heard my friend Dennis say it (and that was well over 25 years ago). I thought it was funny as hell and still do. No one ever knows what the hell I mean either. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-a-man-about-a-dog/657898/34 "2013-05-10T06:46:38Z")
> [@brainstall](#): > > Horse or dog, I’ve always known it as a euphemism for needing to relieve oneself. I was under the impression that ‘horse’ was a sly reference to the size of the man’s anatomy. I was going to make a joke about dogs referring to the product from the other end, but I can’t seem to remember the euphemism that uses that metaphor. Can anyone help? ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-a-man-about-a-dog/657898/35 "2013-05-10T08:56:24Z")
**Dog**. And it’s a colourful way of saying “I’m leaving”, nothing to do with “I’m going to the toilet”. It’s an obvious reference to dog racing: I’m going to see a bookie and betting on a greyhound race. So, I’d expect that in places where dog racing is rare or unknown, the phrase got adapted to horses. I’d also expect that the phrase was coined in the UK, where greyhound racing was a very popular working-class pastime. ETA: Oh look, there’s a [Wiki page](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/See_a_man_about_a_dog) which agrees with my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-a-man-about-a-dog/657898/36 "2013-05-10T11:59:13Z")
> [@samclem](#): > > Guess I’m wrong. > > Michael Quinion writes a great blog on linguistics. > [See a man about a dog](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-see1.htm) Nice link, thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-a-man-about-a-dog/657898/37 "2013-05-10T12:58:18Z")
My sister is sometimes fond of quoting Madeline Kahn from _Paper Moon_: “This little snowflake has to go winky-tink or she’s gonna wet her pantaloons!” ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-a-man-about-a-dog/657898/38 "2013-05-10T13:46:39Z")
Horse. Now I’m off to drop the kids off at the pool. ---
**Author:** ![Stana\_Claus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stana_claus/32/13874_2.png) [@Stana\_Claus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stana_Claus)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-a-man-about-a-dog/657898/39 "2013-05-10T14:00:38Z")
It varies depending on location and audience. Around the farm it’s usually to see about a horse. More urban settings get a dog. And when pulling off on the side of the road while travelling, it’s to “chase a rabbit”. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2013, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-a-man-about-a-dog/657898/40 "2013-05-10T16:26:41Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I’ve always heard “horse” and it has always meant going to the john. Me too. Never heard the dog variant until now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-a-man-about-a-dog/657898.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seeing-a-man-about-a-dog/657898.md?page=3)