like strange bulldogs
English
Etymology
strange is used with the sense of unfamiliar, unacquainted.
Phrase
like strange bulldogs
- (simile, dated, of two or more people) Wary and unfriendly; on the verge of a fight.
- 1916 March 11, Charles E. Van Loan, “His Folks”, in Saturday Evening Post:
- When I think of those folks, living in one room and getting along like a couple of strange bulldogs, I feel like stringing with the man who says that we get our hell on this earth sometimes.
- 1918, Holworthy Hall, The Man Nobody Knew:
- "Some disagreement," admitted Harmon, grinning. "These up-State farmers and I love each other like a couple of strange bulldogs. Still—"
- 1925, The First Yale Unit: A Story of Naval Aviation, 1916-1919:
- These three got along like strange bulldogs, due to the fact that they were all captains and no privates when the three of them were together.
Usage notes
The bulldogs in the expression are often quantified, as in a pair of strange bulldogs, a couple strange bulldogs, two strange bulldogs, forty strange bulldogs, etc.