Contents
=> “5 Dog Idioms” - vocabulary and activity
=> “Famous Dog Quiz”
=> Russian Alaska - Your Opinions
=> In the Next Issues

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5 Dog Idioms - Vocabulary and Activity
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Below you’ll find 5 idioms that refer to dogs. You’ve probably heard “raining cats and dogs,” which means raining very hard, or raining buckets. And you can probably guess that “to be sick as a dog” means to be very sick.

Guessing definitions for the following idioms, in fact, is the task. Write these phrases on the board:

1. to be dog-tired
2. the dog days of summer
3. to be in the doghouse
4. to let sleeping dog’s lie
5. dog-eat-dog (adj.)

Ask students, perhaps in groups or pairs, to write a definition for each phrase. If they don’t know the meaning, they will just have to guess.

Students may read their definitions aloud now and compare.

Next, read or dictate the following sample sentences:

Sample Sentences

1. Mr. Poosheesty was dog-tired after working in the coal mine from morning until night.

2. Is it too hot and miserable out? Don’t let the dog days of summer get you down.

3. Joey knew he was in the doghouse because he’d forgotten to clean his room as his mother had asked.

4. Mr. P wanted to ask Natasha about her ex-husband, but decided it was better to let sleeping dogs lie.

5. Today doing business can be difficult in Russia’s dog-eat-dog brand of capitalism.

Groups/partners are now allowed to revise their definitions, based on the content of the sentences. Finally, the teacher can supply the definitions. Are the student definitions accurate?

Definitions

1. to be dog-tired = to be exhausted, very tired.

2. the dog days of summer = the hottest time of the year, generally from mid July to mid August. The time, and thus the idiom, evokes a mood of stagnation and inactivity.

3. to be in the doghouse = in disfavor, in trouble. The expression alludes to sending a misbehavin dog outdoors to his little doghouse or kennel.

4. let sleeping dogs lie = to avoid starting up old troubles or conflicts; to avoid opening old wounds.

5. dog-eat-dog = ruthlessly competitive (like a dog who will eat another dog).

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Famous Dogs Quiz - just for fun
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Who are these famous dogs? Click on their names if you need a photo to help you.

1. Rin Tin Rin
2. Blondie
3. Laika
4. Ortino, Jemmy, and Joy. What famous family did they belong to?

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Answers to the Famous Dog Quiz
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1. Rin Tin Tin was German Shepard and an American movie star. He made 25 films in the 1920s-1930s, and he would sign his own contracts with a paw print.

2. Blondie was Hitler’s German Shepard. Hitler gave her cyanide soon before killing himself.

3. Russians will remember Laika as the first dog in space, aboard Sputnik 2 in 1957. Laika died in space, probably within the first two days when the cooling system failed.

4. Ortino, Jemmy, and Joy were three favorite dogs of the Romanovs that made the journey to exile in Yekaterinburg with the family in 1917. One of the dogs was killed along with the family in the basement of Ipatiev House on July 17, 1918. This was probably Anastasia’s little spaniel Jemmy. Ortino, Tatiana’s French bulldog, was also appearntly killed, but some time later. Joy, Alexei’s spaniel, survived and eventually emigrated to England!

Anyone interested in the Romanov’s or Russian history should see The Alexander Palace Time Machine, a website with lots of fascinating discussion boards, on every possible Romanov theme, including the imperial pets.

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Russian Alaska - Your Opinions
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I’ve received 15 very interesting responses to my Alaska poll. I’m still hoping for more. Russians were first in Alaska (after native Alaskans). Russians even built a fort in Callifornia in 1812. Does Russia deserve some territorial rights?

Who SHOULD Alaska belong to?
1. USA
2. Russia
3. Other ________

I am
1. American
2. Russian
3. Other ___________

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In the Next Issue
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Aug. 3:
Classic Excuses - a writing activity
Spot-the-Russian-Things Game

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copyright 2005, Kevin McCaughey and I.M. Poosheesty