A dog's dinner
Meaning
Something that is a complete mess, poorly organized, or executed very badly.
Origin
Imagine a hastily prepared meal for a pet – a chaotic jumble of kitchen scraps, gravy, and leftovers thrown together without care. This unappetizing yet perfectly acceptable concoction for a hungry dog became the vivid mental picture behind the British phrase 'a dog's dinner.' Emerging in the mid-20th century, the expression quickly took hold, vividly describing anything that was a complete mess, poorly executed, or haphazardly organized. It wasn't about the quality of the food for the dog, but the sheer visual disarray from a human perspective, capturing the essence of chaos in a universally understood domestic scene.
Examples
- The presentation slides were a dog's dinner, full of typos and badly formatted charts.
- After the party, the kitchen looked like a dog's dinner, with dirty dishes piled high everywhere.