Meaning & Analysis
To perform a malicious, contemptible, or shabby action against someone. The term likens the act to the perceived base or spiteful behavior of a cur or stray dog.
Insights
Base Deception
The proverb signifies a low, mean-spirited act of betrayal or deception. The use of 'dog' implies a complete lack of honor or decency in the action, suggesting a contemptible and base maneuver.
Spiteful Action
It represents a spiteful or malicious prank or action intended to cause harm, embarrassment, or annoyance. The trick is not playful but is characterized by its meanness and unfairness, as in 'he did basely and dirtily by me'.
Uncivilized Behavior
The phrase describes behavior that is considered uncivilized, shameful, and socially alienating. To play a 'dog trick' is to act in a way that violates social trust and decency, making oneself an enemy.
Historical Contempt for 'Dog'
The proverb's meaning is rooted in the historical use of 'dog' as a term of contempt for base, lowly, or currish behavior. The 'trick' is therefore not clever but a malicious or shabby action considered beneath human dignity.
Social Condemnation
This phrase functions as a social condemnation, framing a malicious act as not just harmful but also lacking in honor or dignity. It categorizes the perpetrator as base and their actions as uncivilized, reinforcing social norms of acceptable behavior.
Psychological Projection
Psychologically, the phrase projects undesirable human behaviors—such as spite, petty cruelty, and dirty dealing—onto an animal. This metaphorical distancing serves to heighten the contemptibility of the act, defining it as fundamentally 'un-human'.
Rhetorical Devices
Metaphor / Idiom
The entire phrase is an idiom where 'dog' functions as a metaphor for baseness and contemptibility, qualifying the 'trick' as a dishonorable and malicious act.
Dysphemism
The use of the word 'dog' is a form of dysphemism, employing a deliberately harsh and derogatory term to emphasize the negative and contemptible nature of the action described.
Connotation
The phrase's impact is derived from the strong negative connotations of 'dog' in a historical context, which immediately frames the action as shabby, dirty, and unworthy of respect.
Transcription
Quotations
I will heere, in the way of mirthe, declare a prettie dog tricke or gibe as concerninge this mayden.
By which Dog-trick of his . . he made every one an enemy to him.
That's a dog-trick.
He play'd me a Dog-trick, he did basely and dirtily by me.
Related Proverbs
Original Scan
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