A dictionary of Confusable Phrases: More Than 10,000 Idioms and Collocations

dog’s body • dogsbody
dog’s body—
1
. the complete material structure of a dog: A
general knowledge of your dog’s body and how it functions
will prove helpful in his daily care. 2. the physical remains of
a dead dog: The dog’s body remained floating in the canal
waters over the weekend.
dogsbody —(coll.) a person who carries out menial tasks for
others: I was a sort of general dogsbody to begin with — assis-
tant stage-manager, and what have you.
dog’s dinner • duck’s dinner
dog’s dinner —(sl.) an untidy mess; a distasteful combination
(also: dog’s breakfast): North End is a dog’s dinner of hovels,
dives and drinking dens.
duck’s dinner —(Austral. sl.) no dinner at all; a drink of
water, with nothing to eat : “Make sure he has more than
duck’s dinner, okay?” “What?” “He should eat.”
dog’s ear • pig’s ear
dog’s ear —a corner of a page turned down to serve as a
book-mark: The book was well-thumbed, with dog’s ears and
little slips of paper in it.
pig’s ear —(coll., in the phrase “make a pig’s ear of something”)
make a mess of smth.; do a task badly: “I’ve made a real pig’s
ear of it, haven’t I?” said Basil, with an attempt at lightness.
domestic animals • domesticated animals
domestic animals —animals kept by or living with man on a
farm, etc.: The origin of most of our domestic animals will
probably for ever remain vague.
domesticated animals —wild animals tamed to live with hu-
mans: On this website you will learn how to take care of pets
and domesticated animals.
Dominica • Dominican Republic
Dominica —a country on the island of Dominica of the east-
ern Caribbean between Guadeloupe and Martinique: Do-
minica has a two-party system, which means that there are
two dominant political parties.
Dominican Republic —a country of the West Indies on the
eastern part of the island of Hispaniola: She worked for ten
years in the Dominican Republic in judicial reform programs.