dog's life

A miserably unhappy existence, as in He's been leading a dog's life since his wife left him. This expression was first recorded in a 16th-century manuscript and alludes to the miserable subservient existence of dogs during this era. By the 1660s there was a proverb: "It's a dog's life, hunger and ease."

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Gautstafr	-	Ancient Scandinavian
Sigeberht	-	Anglo-Saxon
Gervaise	zher-VEZ	French (Rare)
Sirpa	SEER-pah	Finnish
Fermintxo	-	Basque
'Orpah	-	Biblical Hebrew