Way, doggie! or was it "Well, doggie!"

Question

On the odd occasion I've heard the exclamaition "Way, doggie!". Can anyone tell me where this originates from and how it originated?

I mentioned it to an American friend, and she tells me thay say "Well, doggie!" in Tennessee... Not quite the same thing.. or is it?

Ally

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]On the odd occasion I've heard the exclamaition "Way, doggie!". Can anyone tell me where this originates from and how ... friend, and she tells me thay say "Well, doggie!" in Tennessee... Not quite the same thing.. or is it?[/nq]
I recognize "Well, doggies!" as being the version spoken by Jed Clampett on *The Beverly Hillbillies,* a character who was from Bugtussle, Tennessee (an actual place, by the way). On the Internet I also found examples of the following interjections:
I've found examples of "Hoo, doggies!" on the Internet with various numbers of "o"s, all the way up to eleven. An example:
From
http://www.leftbanker.com/2004/06/end-of-cold-war-remembered-there-is.html
"Well, you know, Martin Sheen also kinda 'played' the President in The Dead Zone in one of Johnnie's premonitions. And, hoo-doggies was he evil!"
I wasn't able to find any discussion of the interjection itself, so I can only speculate: My guess is that it is a euphemistic variation of "Oh ***!" Compare "doggone," which the AHD4 says is an "Alteration of Scots dagone, alteration of ********.*" Perhaps "Dagnabbit!" contains the same "dag."

I also find "Ye doggies!" and "yee doggies!" on the Internet. Maybe this is a variant of "Hoo doggies!" or maybe it is a variant of "Ye gods!" which I expect is a variant of "Egad!," not originally a reference to multiple gods.

Raymond S. Wise
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
E-mail: mplsray @ yahoo . com

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]On the odd occasion I've heard the exclamaition "Way, doggie!". ... Tennessee... Not quite the same thing.. or is it?[/nq]
[nq:1]I recognize "Well, doggies!" as being the version spoken by Jed Clampett on *The Beverly Hillbillies,* a character who was ... examples of "Hoo, doggies!" on the Internet with various numbers of "o"s, all the way up to eleven. An example:[/nq]
Too much "g" force, Raymond. The word is "dogie" and not "doggie". I've always heard it pronounced "dough-gee" (hard "g") to rhyme with bogey.
From the web:
"In the language of the American West, a dogie is a motherless calf. The origin of the word is unknown, but author Ramon F. Adams suggested it might have originated in the 1880s, when a series of harsh winters left large numbers of orphaned calves. The little calves, weaned too early, were unable to digest coarse range grass, and their swollen bellies very much resembled a batch of sourdough carried in a sack. Such a calf was referred to as dough-guts. The term, altered to dogie according to Adams, has been used ever since throughout cattleland to refer to a pot-gutted orphan calf.

Another possibilty -Produced by Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources,OSU, in cooperation with the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry and the OklahomaState Department of Education, 2002 is that dogie is an alteration of Spanish dogal, lariat. Still another is that it is simply a variant pronunciation of doggie."
Remember the song:
As I went a-walkin'
One mornin' for pleasure,
I spied a cowpuncher
Come ridin' along;
His hat was thrown back,
And his spurs were a-jinglin'
And as he approached,
He was singin' this song.
Chorus:
Whoopee ti yi yo,Git along, little dogies,
It's your misfortune
And none of my own;
Whoopee ti yi yo,Git along, little dogies,
You know that Wyoming
Will be your new home.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]I wasn't able to find any discussion of the interjection itself, so I can only speculate: My guess is that ... the AHD4 says is an "Alteration of Scots dagone, alteration of ********.*" Perhaps "Dagnabbit!" contains the same "dag."[/nq]
Did you hear about the dyslexic agnostic insomniac?
He stayed up all night wondering if there really was a dog.
[nq:1]I also find "Ye doggies!" and "yee doggies!" on the Internet. Maybe this is a variant of "Hoo doggies!" or ... gods!" which I expect is a variant of "Egad!," not originally a reference to multiple gods. Raymond S. Wise[/nq]
s/ meirman If you are emailing me please
say if you are posting the same response.
Born west of Pittsburgh Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis, 7 years
Chicago, 6 years
Brooklyn NY 12 years
Baltimore 20 years

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]I recognize "Well, doggies!" as being the version spoken by ... of "o"s, all the way up to eleven. An example:[/nq]
[nq:1]Too much "g" force, Raymond. The word is "dogie" and not "doggie". I've always heard it pronounced "dough-gee" (hard "g") ... none of my own; Whoopee ti yi yo,Git along, little dogies, You know that Wyoming Will be your new home.[/nq]
I don't think it has anything to do with the word "dogie." If it did, why would it have become a term favored in Tennessee, of all places? (I certainly don't associate it with cowboys.) I expect the reason one find "Hoo doggie!" and "Well doggie!" in Tennessee is due to the influence of "Scots-Irish" (aka "Scotch-Irish") immigrants(1).
As I said before, I figure the "dog" part of "Hoo doggies" and the "dog" of "doggone" both come from the same source: some altered form of the word for "***" in Scots. A former variant, since according to the following,

http://www.scots-online.org/dictionary/
"***" as the Scots word for "***" and "Nyod" and "Od" as current euphemistic variants.
Note:
(1) The Scots-Irish did not think of themselves as Irish.

See
http://www.rootsweb.com/~tncampbe/hist-bogan/ScotchIrishMigration.html

Raymond S. Wise
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
E-mail: mplsray @ yahoo . com

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]on (an numbers[/nq]
[nq:2]Too much "g" force, Raymond. The word is "dogie" and ... dogies, You know that Wyoming Will be your new home.[/nq]
[nq:1]I don't think it has anything to do with the word "dogie." If it did, why would it have become a term favored in Tennessee, of all places?[/nq]
It rather depends on when the term became popular in Tennessee. If it's a fairly recent usage (last 50 years) in Tennessee, Saturday oater matinees would have brought the little dogies to the Tennessee consciousness. Gene Autry was not unknown in Tennessee. If the term became popular in the Civil War era, you might have a point.
[nq:1](I certainly don't associate it with cowboys.) I expect the reason one find "Hoo doggie!" and "Well doggie!" in Tennessee is due to the influence of "Scots-Irish" (aka "Scotch-Irish") immigrants(1).[/nq]
One theory is as good as the next.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]I recognize "Well, doggies!" as being the version spoken by ... variant of "Egad!," not originally a reference to multiple gods.[/nq]
I (the OP) wondered if it might be something to do with cows.

(The phrase is obviously of American origin, methinks - and doggies was slang for cows in the old West, eh, what?) (Giddy-up little doggies! - or was it giddy up, little dogies... no doubt there's a significant difference there...)
Ally

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]http://www.leftbanker.com/2004/06/end-of-cold-war-remembered-there-is.html[/nq]
[nq:1]I (the OP) wondered if it might be something to do with cows. (The phrase is obviously of American origin, ... what?) (Giddy-up little doggies! - or was it giddy up, little dogies... no doubt there's a significant difference there...) Ally[/nq]
As Tony explained, a "dogie" was a motherless calf. MWCD11 dates it to 1888. I don't associate "Well, doggies!" or "Hoo, doggies!" with the American West at all. I associate it with the hill people of Tennessee and Kentucky (of which Jed Clampett of the TV situation comedy The Beverly Hillbillies was a fictional example). And the pronunciation of "dogies" (the plural of "dogie") is not the same as that of "doggies."
You have confused two imperatives. "Giddyap!" or "Giddyup!" or Giddap!" alterations of "Get up!" are commands given to a horse. The command given in the song mentioning dogies and addressed at them is usually given as "Git along!" an alteration of "Get along!"

Raymond S. Wise
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
E-mail: mplsray @ yahoo . com

Way, doggie! or was it "Well, doggie!"

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