Gone to the dogs

If something has gone to the dogs, it is worthless. It has nothing whatsoever to do with dog racing, although sometimes this explanation is offered by the uninformed. This figurative sense has been around since the 1500s. The literal meaning and use, however, has probably been around since homo sapiens first started feeding dogs. Anything that went to the dogs after man had eaten was very close to worthless and this was how the expression first developed. There are numerous mentions of feeding worthless scraps to the dogs in the Bible. Shakespeare used the expression figuratively when Macbeth says, “Throw physic to the dogs, I’ll none of it.”