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In the Doghouse

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Many a man reading this will know what being ‘in the doghouse’ is all about – any man, that is, who has endured his partner’s wrath as a consequence of his actions. Forgetting a wedding anniversary or a birthday is a perfect example of such a lapse in standards. Just as a misbehaving dog is banished to the doghouse, the misbehaving man will find himself in disgrace and languishing in the metaphorical doghouse. Bad boy!

In Peter Pan, the children’s father, Mr Darling, is particularly unpleasant to the family dog, Nana, despite her acting as a nurse to the kids. As punishment for his rotten ways, his wife sends him to live in Nana’s Doghouse. J.M. Barrie wrote the book in 1904, and from that moment on the phrase ‘in the doghouse’ acquired a new meaning. No infallible means of getting out of the doghouse has been found, though flowers, jewellery and getting on all fours like a real dog and begging have all been attempted.

Bees Knees and Barmy Armies - Origins of the Words and Phrases we Use Every Day

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