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My Grandfather used this phrase frequently. When I was a young boy I asked him what it meant. He told me that once or twice a year the mountain people would cull out their worthless dogs and have a get together at night in the woods and hang the dogs that were not worth their feed. Some men left early because they could not stand to watch the Horror. But it was a badge of honor to "stay until the last dog was hung"
I have never seen collaboration of this explanation anywhere, but it is what comes to my mind when I use the term.
Steve
Wiki User
∙ 11y agoFrom phrases.org.uk:
"The earliest appearance of this phrase in print that we have been able to locate is in a novel by Stewart Edward White. Called 'The Blazed Trail,' it was published in 1902 and contains this line: 'They were loyal. It was a point of honor with them to stay 'until the last dog was hung.' White spent much of his early life on the frontier, first in the West, later in the Hudson Bay country. We would hazard the guess that the original 'dogs' hung were of the human species and that the reference is to the kind of vigilante lynchings known as 'necktie parties' in the early West. Nowadays, of course, the expression is most often heard in reference to the inevitable two or three people at every cocktail party who hang around everlastingly -- 'until the last dog is hung' and the host shows them the door." From the "Morris Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins" by William and Mary Morris (HarperCollins, New York, 1977, 1988).
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When is it correct to use hung or hanged?
Hung would be betterAnswerIt's simple. Pictures are hung; people are hanged. For example:"There are several pictures hung on this wall.""The murderer was hanged last week."
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He made it at the last minute
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It came from my Grandmother,who also said "It's the Last Place You'll Look!"
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His haggard expression showed the stress of the last few weeks. When he was finally rescued from the woods, he was gaunt and haggard.
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The expression means to confront someone with whom you have a quarrel, usually said to them prior to beginning the argument. "I have a bone to pick with you," is the expression, and then the angry party lays out the reason they are angry.It means they have a small complaint that they want to discuss with you. The image is of the two of you picking the last bites of meat off a bone.
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"soup to nuts" soup was the traditional first course in a formal meal, nuts the last.
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Ruth Ellis was the last perdon to be hung
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People are still being hung.
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Where does the last name Goldsberry originate from?
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When is it correct to use hung or hanged?
Hung would be betterAnswerIt's simple. Pictures are hung; people are hanged. For example:"There are several pictures hung on this wall.""The murderer was hanged last week."
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What does the surname Veyna mean and where did it originate
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The last person to be executed by hanging in the United States was Billy Bailey in Delaware on January 25, 1996. Delaware was the last state to use hanging as a method of execution.
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England
Where does your last name originate from?
My ancestors.
Where did the last name originate?
England
