Where did the expression until the last dog is hung originate?

Answer 1

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.

Answer 2

The expression "until the last dog is hung" is believed to originate from the practice of hanging dogs as a form of punishment or entertainment in medieval Europe. It is likely a metaphorical reference to waiting until every possible eventuality has been exhausted before taking action. The phrase is used to convey the idea of waiting until the very last moment or until all options have been considered before making a decision or taking action.

Answer 3

From 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).