Chrysti The Wordsmith: Every Dog Has Its Day - 2

Hi this is Christie the wordsmith. Last time on this series we looked into the history of the proverb every dog has its day which means that everyone however humble will have a day of success and achievement. I was inspired to investigate this proverb after chasing my dog Moxie off a rotting carcass. That to her was a sweet delicacy. I later imagined her pleasure at discovering this immense delicious smorgasbord for a few moments until I discovered what she was up to. That dog was having her day now Moxie was really tearing away at that carcass and being a dog of uncertain heritage. She really looked feral as she devoured mouthfuls of fur and flesh. It made me think of a term we have coined to refer to a mixed breed canine of her ilk. Mutt mutt is the clipped version of the now rare muttonhead an epithet that 300 years ago was applied to a dull foolish or slow witted human being mutton head of course means sheep head an

insult derived from the perceived shortcomings of sheep. Eventually a mutt became a person or a dog considered ill bred awkward of little consequence. Today the moniker is reserved almost exclusively for a dog of questionable heritage with no hope of a claim to pedigree. But as the proverb reminds us even such a one will eventually have its day from Montana State University in Bozeman. This is Christy the wordsmith Christie the wordsmith is sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Zoot enterprises a high tech firm in Bozeman Montana offering challenging careers and innovative solutions for the financial services industry Web dot com.