black dog
English
Etymology
A personification, attested from 1826.[1] Popularized by Winston Churchill, although it is not clear if he specifically referred to mental health.[2]
Noun
the black dog
- (euphemistic) depression, melancholy
- 1967, Robert Bly, “Melancholia”, in The Light Around the Body:
- A light seen suddenly in the storm, snow / Coming from all sides, like flakes / Of sleep, and myself / On the road to the dark barn, / Halfway there, a black dog near me
- 1998, “Black Dog On My Shoulder”, in This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours, performed by Manic Street Preachers:
- There's a black dog on my shoulder again / I'm playing with it but it's gone to my head
- 2014, “They Told Me It Rained”, in Carry On the Grudge, performed by Jamie T:
- I can't breathe, feed the black dog / Refuse to breathe, refuse to fuck
- 2018, Kate Atkinson, Transcription, →ISBN, page 111:
- Apologies, Miss Armstrong, the black dog has got me in its teeth.
- 2020, “Black Dog”, in AP1, performed by Arlo Parks:
- I take a jump off the fire escape / To make the black dog go away
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- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see black, dog.
See also
- black dog syndrome
References
- Douglas Harper (2001–2023), “black”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
- Anita Singh (2018-10-06), “Churchill's 'black dog' is a myth and he never suffered depression, says leading historian”, in The Telegraph
Anagrams
- goldback