Where does this term come from? Running dog.

[skycat 6,174]

I was asked where the term 'running dog' came from. Yeah, yeah, I know it is in the title of a book but I wondered where its origins lay. The only origins I could find are as follows:

 

The dictionary definition of 'running dog' is from the old Chinese, and refers to a servant or slave who carried messages: literally running to deliver his message. Dogs been seen as the lowest of all beasts in many cultures, probably due to the fact that they scavenged on human waste in towns and villages, and to refer to a human as a dog has often carried insult, probably because of this connotation.

 

But why do we refer to lurchers as 'running dogs', and where did it come from? The Aussies often call their lurchers/sighthounds 'runners' thought the Americans use the term 'staghound'.

 

Is 'running dog' purely a lurcher terms, coined by lurcher men? Does it have gypsy origins? Anyone know?

[darkie 143]

without appearing to be obtuse ,is it because they run fast?

[TOMO 27,088]

you got to much time on your hands P...........

 

i just think its cos ey run after there prey,,,, rather than stalk or scent

[desertbred 5,490]

Names in some cultures and historically come from actions that are observed for example ,the North American Red Indian used names like Passing Cloud , Running Deer, Running dog, Similar ways are used to choose names in the middle east another example is the names given to salukis and arabian horses the names all Have particular meanings or relate to particular activities, John Peels hounds also had related names such as Hark to Towler because of its continous holler when in pursuit, So more then likely some one said look at that running dog.

Edited June 25, 2012 by desertbred

[skycat 6,174]

Tomo: I wish! The editor is updating the website and wanted some more information: so maybe he has too much time on his hands as well!

 

desertbred: thanks. That makes sense: I like the Native American names: they always describe something for what he/she/it represents. In the same way that a lot of old farms have names for fields: Old Oak Field, Stony Field, etc etc. I have always named areas, fields, so to describe them more easily. This is only useful if you and the person you are talking to know the places by these names though: but if I'm describing where one of my dogs caught summat, when I'm relaying the event to my OH, it is much easier to just say, for example, The Horsefield Lane (instead of a detailed description of the place, which would take ages. The Horsefield lane is only a path, but it used to have horses next to it, 20 years ago! So its always been called the Horsefield Lane ever since, but just by us.

 

I try to call my dogs by names which suit either their personalities, or their traits> Sparrow, Skycat, Starlight, who should have been called Darklight because she was full of light, but giving out dark ominous gleams of dark light, but this sounded even sillier ................oh, sod it, I'm rambling and think too much, but you get the drift.......hopefully :laugh:

[whippet 99 2,613]

i thought it was a dog that runs

[darkie 143]

one thing thats always puzzled me ,why are pointers called pointers?

[whip x grey 276]

dont know,,,i catalouge sighthounds and lurcher,s

 

but i put sighthounds or cross sighthounds,,,,as running dogs

 

and lurcher,s,,,,, as lurchers

[asanley 1,009]

Sounds to me like it,s just a descriptive term that evolved naturally to describe what the dog does , same as guard dog , sheepdog , cattledog, fanny licker etc

maybe running dog as opposed to hunting dog , to differentiate from terriers , hounds and spaniels etc .

[darkie 143]

fanny licker :laugh: ......(were can i get one..? )

[desertbred 5,490]

same as scousers and shell suits and morton donkeys lol

[Maximus Ferret 2,063]

  On 25/06/2012 at 07:53, skycat said:

I was asked where the term 'running dog' came from. Yeah, yeah, I know it is in the title of a book but I wondered where its origins lay. The only origins I could find are as follows:

 

The dictionary definition of 'running dog' is from the old Chinese, and refers to a servant or slave who carried messages: literally running to deliver his message. Dogs been seen as the lowest of all beasts in many cultures, probably due to the fact that they scavenged on human waste in towns and villages, and to refer to a human as a dog has often carried insult, probably because of this connotation.

 

But why do we refer to lurchers as 'running dogs', and where did it come from? The Aussies often call their lurchers/sighthounds 'runners' thought the Americans use the term 'staghound'.

 

Is 'running dog' purely a lurcher terms, coined by lurcher men? Does it have gypsy origins? Anyone know?

Why do you ask you running dog imperialist lackey of the capitalist oppressors!!!!

[skycat 6,174]

Just wondered if anyone had any more information: that's all. I like to delve into the origins of words, phrases etc. For instance: when did plod first get called pigs?

[desertbred 5,490]

  On 25/06/2012 at 12:37, skycat said:

Just wondered if anyone had any more information: that's all. I like to delve into the origins of words, phrases etc. For instance: when did plod first get called pigs?

since they were piglets of course

[paulus 26]

  On 25/06/2012 at 12:37, skycat said:

Just wondered if anyone had any more information: that's all. I like to delve into the origins of words, phrases etc. For instance: when did plod first get called pigs?

Back in 1809, Sir Robert Peel entered the House of Commons in London - he developed a passion for Sandy Back pigs found in Ireland and began to breed them in Tamworth. Soon, these pigs were known as Tamworth pigs. Pig slang was commonplace in Tamworth because of this, it was in 1829 that the relation to police came into it.

Politicians were concerned about the way London was policed and Sir Robert Peel changed things - his changes resulted in the formation of the Metropolitan Police. This is why police are referred to as 'Bobbies' or 'Peelers'; they were Bobby's boys...

Due to the pig nature that Tamworth had become, the police suffered the same fate as other Tamworth products did: They became related to pigs.

 

 

Starting in August 1968 and for a number of years afterwards, police officers were called pigs by young people, the disenchanted and even the media. This came about when a group who called themselves the Yippies, protested near the 1968 National Democratic Convention in Chicago. They had a small pig as their presidential candidate, and when police disrupted their demonstration, they started to call the police pigs. The expression caught on. Years later, the radical leaders of the Yippies became mainstream and calling police "pigs" drifted into the past