man's best friend
man's best friend
Meaning
- It refers to animals that are of use to human beings, mostly used to address dogs.
- Loyalty and valuable services that dogs provide to human beings make them worthy of being called man's best friend.
- Dog
Example Sentences
- When his dog died he cried for many days in the memory of his only best friend.
- A dog is undoubtedly a man's best friend.
Origin
Dogs were used for hunting and defense before the start of the 18th century. Post that they have been domesticated as pets. It is not certain about the origination of this phrase since from the time dogs have become pets, their services have been valued far more. In fact, it is considered one of the reasons why dogs were taken as pets from a utility animal. The phrase is said to have originated in the New York Literary Journal in 1821.
The phrase became popular in 1870, in Missouri, United States of America, a farmer shot his neighbours dog. This resulted in a law suit. In the duration of the law suit, the lawyer of the dog's family provided many a references to the services and the loyalty of the said dog. He even gave a eulogy in which he referred to dogs in general as man's best friend.