{"id":10608,"date":"2022-11-16T22:15:29","date_gmt":"2022-11-16T22:15:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/?p=10608"},"modified":"2022-11-16T22:16:37","modified_gmt":"2022-11-16T22:16:37","slug":"mans-best-friend-meaning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/mans-best-friend-meaning\/","title":{"rendered":"Man\u2019s Best Friend \u2013 Meaning, Origin and Usage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Do you need a phrase to describe your beloved dog and the close bond between you? \u201cMan\u2019s best friend\u201d shows you can always trust your canine companion.<\/p>\n<p>Keep reading to learn more about this popular idiom\u2019s history and meaning and discover how to use it in a sentence.<\/p>\n<h2>Meaning<\/h2>\n<p>The idiom \u201cman\u2019s best friend\u201d refers to <u>a dog or a group of dogs<\/u>. It can also describe the lifelong relationship between humans and their dogs.<\/p>\n<p>People use the saying \u201cman\u2019s best friend\u201d to show that dogs are more than just pets.<\/p>\n<h2>Example Usage<\/h2>\n<p>Are you interested in using the phrase \u201cman\u2019s best friend\u201d in a sentence? These examples show you how:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cAre you looking for a new pet to keep you company? A dog doesn\u2019t only protect you, but also keeps you happy \u2014 dogs are man\u2019s best friends after all!\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201c<strong>Man\u2019s<\/strong> best friend is an unconditionally loving creature that will help you out no matter what. While friends may come and go in life, your dog will always be by your side.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cLosing my dog was one of the worst experiences I ever had. My dog wasn\u2019t just man\u2019s best friend, but also mine.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cMy neighbor Terry absolutely despises dogs and even told me to get rid of mine because it was too loud for him. How could I possibly do something like that to man\u2019s best friend?\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Origin<\/h2>\n<p>An American lawyer, <strong>George Graham<\/strong>, first used the idiom \u201c<strong>man\u2019s best friend<\/strong>\u201d in <strong>1869<\/strong> while addressing the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n<p>After a neighbor shot a man\u2019s cherished black and tan coon hound, he wanted justice and sued the shooter. The court case became well known after the layer said, \u201c<strong>Gentlemen of the jury, a man\u2019s dog stands by him in prosperity and poverty, in health and sickness.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A statue of Old Drum now stands in front of the court in honor of the faithful dog.<\/p>\n<p>Humans and dogs have worked together for thousands of years now, and the close companionship between us and our dogs stretches further back than the court case.<\/p>\n<p>We don\u2019t know precisely when dogs were first domesticated. Still, a burial site from <strong>14,000 years ago<\/strong> located in Germany is the final resting place of the oldest known domesticated dog.<\/p>\n<p>People mainly used dogs for hunting and defense until recently, when keeping dogs as pets became common. The relationship between dogs and humans was mutually protective, as the dog kept threats at bay and the human thanked the canine by offering food and shelter.<\/p>\n<h2>Phrases Similar to Man\u2019s Best Friend<\/h2>\n<p>Other idioms that mention dogs include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You can\u2019t teach an old dog new tricks\u2014 you can\u2019t teach someone already set in their ways something new.<\/li>\n<li>Barking dogs never bite\u2014 a phrase to describe someone who is \u201call talk and no action.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>Dog it \u2014 judging someone for doing something.<\/li>\n<li>Making puppy eyes [at someone] \u2014 looking at a person with a sad and pleading facial expression.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Phrases Opposite to Man\u2019s Best Friend<\/h2>\n<p>The idiom \u201cman\u2019s best friend\u201d doesn\u2019t have any antonyms. However, people who despise dogs might call them their \u201c<strong>worst enemy<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>What Is the Correct Saying?<\/h2>\n<p>The correct way to use this idiom is \u201c<strong>man\u2019s best friend<\/strong>.\u201d You can use it to describe to your own dog, dogs as a whole, or another person\u2019s dog.<\/p>\n<h2>Ways People May Say Man\u2019s Best Friend Incorrectly<\/h2>\n<p>English learners may think the saying \u201cman\u2019s best friend\u201d refers to a person, not a dog. An incorrect way of using this idiom would be to refer to a person as \u201cman\u2019s best friend\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Man\u2019s best friend doesn\u2019t mean your dog is literally your best friend, either. When people say \u201cman\u2019s best friend,\u201d they may still value their human friends more than their dog.<\/p>\n<h2>Acceptable Ways to Phrase Man\u2019s Best Friend<\/h2>\n<p>You can use \u201cman\u2019s best friend\u201d as a synonym for \u201cdog,\u201d especially if you want to introduce variety to your speech or writing. Of course, you can also call your own dog \u201cman\u2019s best friend.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-2\">Do you need a phrase to describe your beloved dog and the close bond between you? \u201cMan\u2019s best friend\u201d shows you can always trust your canine companion. Keep reading to learn more about this popular idiom\u2019s history and meaning and discover how to use it in a sentence. Meaning The idiom \u201cman\u2019s best friend\u201d refers [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10608"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10608"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10608\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10610,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10608\/revisions\/10610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}