Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

man bites dog

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.77 in modern English

Syllables: man bites -dog
IPA

17

Scrabble Score

11

Letters

2

Syllables

11

Unique Chars

Meaning

phrase

A situation that is worth reporting on because it is unusual or bizarre.

Etymology

Shortened version of a phrase attributed to various 19th-century journalists: "When a dog bites a man, that is not news, because it happens so often. But if a man bites a dog, that is news."

Rhymes With

everybody and their dog go the whole hog crab-eating frog -alogue

Questions

What does man bites dog mean?: A situation that is worth reporting on because it is unusual or bizarre.
Where does man bites dog come from?: Shortened version of a phrase attributed to various 19th-century journalists: "When a dog bites a man, that is not news, because it happens so often. But if a man bites a dog, that is news."

How to pronounce man bites dog

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “man bites dog”.
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