Dog eared, the origin

[ruby27]

I know that dog eared means rather used and tatty, but why does something worn out through use supposedly resemble a dog ear? None of the dogs I know have 'dog ears'.

[kctgreat]

huh! i didn't know dog eared means "rather used and tatty." i'm from north america. here we use the term "dog-eared" when we fold the corner of a page down (triangular in shape) to hold our place. the shape resembles a dog's ear. hence the term. we dog-eared the page.

hope that helps more than it confuses. ;)

[fredpuli47]

That's how we use it ,kctgreat. We 'dog ear' a page in Britain . A book which has been used a lot, as a library book might be, gets a lot of dog ears over time. By the time it is used, tatty, worn out , it is 'dog eared'. The OED gives dog-ear as a verb meaning to disfigure a book by turning down the corners of pages; make worn or grubby by repeated or careless use.It's quite an old term, dating from the mid C17.

[kctgreat]

right you are fred. i just surmised that very thing. was going to post it for ruby but you beat me to the punch line. :) cheers.

[ruby27]

kctgreat and fredpuli47

Thank you very much for the explanation. There was me thinking I knew what it meant, when obviously I didn't understand the full explanation. It now makes perfect sense about turning over the page and then eventually the book becoming tatty.