The dog ate my homework
"The dog ate my homework" (or "My dog ate my homework") is an English expression which carries the suggestion of being a common, poorly fabricated excuse made by schoolchildren to explain their failure to turn in an assignment on time. The phrase is referenced, even beyond the educational context, as a sarcastic rejoinder to any similarly glib or otherwise insufficient or implausible explanation for a failure in any context.
The claim of a dog eating one's homework is inherently suspect since it is both impossible for a teacher to disprove and conveniently absolves the student who gives that excuse of any blame. However, although suspicious, the claim is not absolutely beyond possibility since dogs are known to eat—or chew on—bunches of paper; John Steinbeck was once forced to ask his editor for additional time due to half the manuscript of Of Mice and Men having been eaten by his Irish Setter.[1] In 2022 a teacher posted to Reddit a picture of what was left of her students' homework after her dog chewed it up before she could grade it.[2]
As an explanation for missing documents, it dates to a story about a Welsh minister first recorded in print in 1905. The Oxford English Dictionary suggests that a 1929 reference establishes that schoolchildren had at some time earlier than that offered it as an excuse to teachers. It was so recorded, more than once, in the 1965 bestselling novel Up the Down Staircase, and began to assume its present sense as the sine qua non of dubious excuses, particularly in American culture, both in school and out, in the 1970s. American presidents from Ronald Reagan to Barack Obama have used it to criticize political opponents, and it has been a source of humor for various comic strips and television shows, such as The Simpsons.
History
Origins
The earliest known variation
Six years later, the president of the Fire Underwriters' Association of the Northwest was recorded repeating the anecdote at the organization's 42nd annual meeting. He describes it as Scottish in origin, and some of the details vary. The visiting minister speaks instead to a younger member of the congregation, who complains that the sermon was too short. In his telling, the dog was not his but one in the street who ate some of the papers after a wind blew them out of his hand. This elicits the same response, rendered in Standard English rather than dialect.[5]
The excuse for the brevity of the document did not become the punchline for another 18 years. The first use of the phrase recorded by the Oxford English Dictionary was in 1929, in an essay in the British newspaper The Guardian: "It is a long time since I have had the excuse about the dog tearing up the arithmetic homework." This suggests it had been in use among students for some time prior to that.[3]
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Video of a dog eating alleged homework |
It was first reported in an American context in 1965. Bel Kaufman's bestselling comic novel, Up the Down Staircase, published that year, includes two instances where the protagonist's students blame their failure to complete their assignment on their dogs. In a section written as drama early in the book, one student refers to "a terrible tragedy ... My dog went on my homework!"[6] Later, a list of excuses includes "My dog chewed it up" and "the cat chewed it up and there was no time to do it over."[7]
Popularization
The phrase became widely used in the 1970s.
During the next decade, personal computers became more common in American households and schools, and many students began writing papers with word processors. This provided them with another possible excuse for missing homework, in the form of computer malfunctions. Still, "the dog ate my homework" remained common. In a 1987 article on this phenomenon, one teacher recalled to The New York Times that once a student had given him a note signed by a parent saying that the dog had eaten his homework.[13] The following year President Ronald Reagan lamented Congress's apparent failure to pass that year's federal budget on time, "I had hoped that we had marked the end of the 'dog-ate-my-homework' era of Congressional budgetry", he told reporters on canceling a planned news conference to sign the bills, "but it was not to be". His use showed that the phrase had become more generalized in American discourse as referring to any insufficient or unconvincing excuse.[14]
Use of the phrase in printed matter rose steadily through the end of the century. It leveled off in the early years of the 2000s, but has not declined.[15] During the 2012 United States presidential campaign, Barack Obama's campaign used it to rebuke Mitt Romney for not participating in Nickelodeon's "Kids Pick the President" special. "'The dog ate my homework' just doesn't cut it when you're running for president."[16]
In popular culture
In 1989 the popular sitcom
A 1989 episode of Full House had the Tanners' new puppy, Comet, actually eat DJ's book report along with other household items. DJ, knowing that the excuse is a cliché, decides against telling her teacher what happened and claiming her toddler sister Michelle ate the report instead.
It became an occasional
In a 2000 episode of the animated television series CatDog featuring an anthropomorphic cat/dog conjoined twin, Cat hatched a plan to get rich by having Dog eat other people's homework.[20]
Humorists have also punned on the phrase. A Sam Gross New Yorker cartoon from 1996 shows a Venetian classroom of several centuries ago where a standing student announces "The Doge ate my homework."[21]
Comic strips that feature
There have been three different books that used the excuse as a title. Two have been collections of poetry for students with a school theme,
References
- ^ "Computer Crashes Before Computers: When John Steinbeck's Dog Ate His Manuscript". May 27, 2016. Archived from the original on November 4, 2019. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
- ^ Kato, Brooke (August 25, 2022). "I'm a teacher — and my dog ate my students' homework". New York Post. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
- ^ Slate. Archivedfrom the original on October 14, 2012. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
- ^ ApMadoc, William (September 1905). "Music". The Cambrian. XXV (9). Archived from the original on April 29, 2015. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
- ^ Proceedings of the 42nd Annual Meeting of the Fire Underwriters' Association of the Northwest. HathiTrust Digital Library. 1911. Archived from the original on August 13, 2015. Retrieved October 15, 2012.
- ISBN 9780060973612. Retrieved October 15, 2012.
- ^ Up The Down Staircase, 155.
- ^ Scott Simon and Forrest Wickman (October 13, 2012). "Can The Dog Still Eat Your Homework?". National Public Radio. Archived from the original on October 14, 2012. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
- ISBN 9780142406540. Retrieved October 16, 2012.
- ^ St. Patrick's Day with Mayor Daley and other things too good to miss, p. 87, at Google Books
- ISBN 9780829424294. Retrieved October 16, 2012.
- ^ Popik, Barry (August 28, 2012). ""The dog ate my homework" (student excuse)". barrypopik.com. Archived from the original on October 15, 2012. Retrieved October 16, 2012.
- ^ Freitag, Michael (January 4, 1987). "Blackboard Notes: Excuses Go High-Tech". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 16, 2012. Retrieved October 16, 2012.
- ^ Rasky, Susan (October 1, 1988). "Congress Meets Spending Bill Deadline". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 16, 2012. Retrieved October 16, 2012.
- ^ Ngram viewer. 2012. Retrieved October 16, 2012.
- ^ Lisa de Moraes (October 8, 2012). "TV Column: Romney snubs Nick's 'Kids'". Washington Post. Archived from the original on August 12, 2015. Retrieved October 14, 2012.
- ^ John Swartzwelder (October 10, 1991). "Bart the Murderer". The Simpsons. Season 3. Episode 39. Fox.
- Stop or My Dog Will Shoot". The Simpsons. Season 18. Episode 398. Fox.
- ^ Jeff Westbrook (May 22, 2011). "The Ned-Liest Catch". The Simpsons. Season 22. Episode 486. Fox.
- ^ List of CatDog episodes Season 2 Episode 19
- Conde Nast. Archived from the originalon October 6, 2016. Retrieved October 5, 2016.
- ^ Larson, Gary. "Far Side Cartoon: Dogs in school". Universal Press Syndicate. Archived from the original on August 17, 2015. Retrieved October 16, 2012.
- ^ Adams, Scott (March 27, 1991). "March 27, 1991". Dilbert.com. Archived from the original on May 28, 2013. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
- ISBN 9781563976384. Archivedfrom the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved October 6, 2016.
- ISBN 9781416989134. Archivedfrom the original on July 20, 2014. Retrieved October 6, 2016.
- ISBN 9781608449644. Archivedfrom the original on July 27, 2014. Retrieved October 6, 2016.
- ISBN 9781416938835. Archivedfrom the original on July 25, 2014. Retrieved October 6, 2016.
- ISBN 9780448426839. Archivedfrom the original on July 27, 2014. Retrieved October 6, 2016.
- ^ Christiansen, Arne (1995). A Monster Ate My Homework. Englewood, CO: Pioneer Drama Service. Archived from the original on July 23, 2014. Retrieved October 6, 2016.
- ^ "The Dog Ate My Homework". British Comedy Guide. Archived from the original on July 4, 2014. Retrieved July 3, 2014.