Idiom – To Be Dog Tired

To Be Dog Tired – Idiom of the Day

Meaning:

Extremely tired.

History:

History dates back to a tale relating to Alfred the Great. It seems that he sent his two sons Athelbrod and Edwin out with kennels of hunting dogs. Whoever caught more hounds would have the honour of dining at the right hand side of Alfred’s table. This task would make the sons weary. Thus the phrase dog tired was born. But there are no references about this idiom in Literature post Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English.

Idiom scenarios:

Scenario 1:

(At the exam hall) 

Friend 1: Your eyes are swollen. What happened?

Friend 2: I burnt the midnight oil yesterday. The lessons were very tough to prepare.

Friend 1: Will you be able to write the exams? 

Friend 2: I don’t know. I’m dog tired. 

Scenario 2:

Friend 1: Why is your daughter sleeping in the middle of the day?

Friend 2: She had been journeying by bus all night. She is dog tired.

Friend 1: Poor Girl!

Scenario 3:

Employee: I had meetings all night and I’m dog tired now. So I might not come to the office today.

Boss: Oh! Ok John! Please take some rest. You’ll be alright.

Employee: Thanks Harry!

Scenario 4:

Supervisor: Why is the labourer 1 seeming so dull ? 

Labourer 2: He had been felling logs in the scorching sun and is dog tired

Supervisor: I see. Ask him to go home for the day.

Examples:

Go through the examples  to understand the usage of the idiom:

1. The doctor seemed dog tired after performing the 8-hour surgery. 

2. The kids have been playing all day in the garden and are dog tired now. 

3. After driving for 10 hours, John became dog tired.