literally going to the dogs
September 15th, 2005 by Fitz
Going to the Digital Dogs [Fool.com]
Handheld gaming systems have gone to the dogs, literally. That’s because Nintendo has a hit with its Nintendogs puppy-simulator game cartridges.
I like this one, it’s clever, but technically it is incorrect.
The idiom “going to the dogs” means that something is deteriorating or coming to a bad end.
A literal interpretation would mean that your Nintendo DS is being gnawed upon by some hounds.
September 15th, 2005 at 10:38 pm
Yes, I admit this is a shameless attempt to sell some product through this blog. To punish me please send me a Nintendo DS with a copy of Nintendogs, which will consume all my free time and make me miserable.
November 1st, 2005 at 10:08 pm
Hmmm. To argue that the phrase “literally going to the dogs” is incorrect because it plays off an idiomatic meaning might be a stretch. Since Nintendo is putting dogs on the screen of its device, I’d vote that the use is more correct than incorrect. Echoing the above comments about NYT wine article, I’d say the use of “literally” is more superfluous than incorrect.