lapdog
someone who is easily controlled by another person
TRANSLATION
lapdog = der Schoßhund --- GOOGLE INDEX lapdog: approximately 500,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
"Only 14% of Russians believe Medvedev is the real president," says Lilia Shevtsova of the Carnegie Moscow Centre. "The population considers him to be a non-entity, a shadow and simply Putin's LAPDOG."
(BBC News)
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"The EU cannot continue to remain silent in the face of these ongoing revelations. It gives the impression we are little more than a LAPDOG of the United States," said Jan Albrecht, a German Green in the EU parliament.
(Reuters news service)
(BBC News)
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"The EU cannot continue to remain silent in the face of these ongoing revelations. It gives the impression we are little more than a LAPDOG of the United States," said Jan Albrecht, a German Green in the EU parliament.
(Reuters news service)
Did you
know?
lapdog
noun
- someone who is willing to do anything that a more important person tells them to do
noun
- a small pet dog that is given a lot of attention by its owner
(Cambridge Dictionaries)
---
In the animal world, the lapdog has it pretty good. It has a warm, comfortable and safe place (depending on the owner’s lap) and it gets lot of attention. This is in contrast to the expression "it’s a dog’s life," which refers to a life that is hard and unpleasant. This seeming paradox illustrates the linguistic transformation that the dog has gone through over time.
Dogs once failed to gain much respect among the human population. They were generally looked down upon, which we can see from these expressions:
- to be sick as a dog = to be very sick
- a dog’s breakfast = something that has been done very badly
- let sleeping dogs lie = leave something alone because it might cause trouble
The dog’s reputation has greatly improved meanwhile. If you make things extra special or dress up for a formal occasion, you are "putting on the dog." If you are very determined and never feel like giving up, then you are like "a dog with a bone." And last but not least, if you are the most important and powerful person in a group, then you have the honour of being the "top dog."
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SYNONYMS
dogsbody, lackey, major-domo, puppet, servant, slave, sycophant, flunky, toady, underling, yes man/woman
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"They say he has no real power, he's just the CEO's lapdog."
noun
- someone who is willing to do anything that a more important person tells them to do
noun
- a small pet dog that is given a lot of attention by its owner
(Cambridge Dictionaries)
---
In the animal world, the lapdog has it pretty good. It has a warm, comfortable and safe place (depending on the owner’s lap) and it gets lot of attention. This is in contrast to the expression "it’s a dog’s life," which refers to a life that is hard and unpleasant. This seeming paradox illustrates the linguistic transformation that the dog has gone through over time.
Dogs once failed to gain much respect among the human population. They were generally looked down upon, which we can see from these expressions:
- to be sick as a dog = to be very sick
- a dog’s breakfast = something that has been done very badly
- let sleeping dogs lie = leave something alone because it might cause trouble
The dog’s reputation has greatly improved meanwhile. If you make things extra special or dress up for a formal occasion, you are "putting on the dog." If you are very determined and never feel like giving up, then you are like "a dog with a bone." And last but not least, if you are the most important and powerful person in a group, then you have the honour of being the "top dog."
---
SYNONYMS
dogsbody, lackey, major-domo, puppet, servant, slave, sycophant, flunky, toady, underling, yes man/woman
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"They say he has no real power, he's just the CEO's lapdog."
