• Charles Jones
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  • Added 08 Jun 2024
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The earliest known use of the word hang-dog is in the late 1600's. OED's earliest evidence for hang-dog is from 1677, in the writing of Thomas Otway, playwright and poet. And I'll wager Mr. Otway heard it somewhere himself, prithee. Some folks 'in the know' make it a compound word, some make it two, I'd always thought it was hyphenated and when Oxford still spelled it that way, I followed suit. It has some rather varied definitions as well. There's 'shame-faced, guilty.' And then there's 'browbeaten; defeated; intimidated.' And finally, 'suitable to a degraded or contemptible person; sneaky; furtive.' So with such a wide berth, I'd say we've all had that look at some point in our lives. This is a 6 by 4.5 inches gel pen with color pencil drawing on medium bond acid-free paper. It's what Original Jones Art ashamedly admits is his own in northwest Austin, Texas.

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Anonymous Guest

Ray Steele 08 Jun 2024

thats a interesting piece of history thank you for sharing it charles

Artist Reply: I've always had in interest in idioms, colloquialisms, and slang terms. Our language would be down to grunts, finger-pointing and chest-beating without them, Ray. Hope you are hanging in there okay or better than. :)