everybody and their dog
English
WOTD – 2 December 2025
Etymology
From everybody + and + their + dog.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈɛvɹiɪbɒdi n̩ ðɛː ˈdɒɡ/, /-bə-/
- (General American, stressed form) IPA(key): /ˈɛvɹiˌbɑdi n̩ ðɛɹ ˈdɔɡ/, /-vɹə-/, (General American, unstressed form) /-(ˌ)bədi-/, /-ðəɹ-/, (cot–caught merger) /-dɑɡ/
Audio (General American): (file) Audio (General Australian): (file) - Rhymes: -ɒɡ
- Hyphenation: ev‧ery‧body and their dog
Pronoun
- (idiomatic, informal) Synonym of everybody and his brother (“everybody, everyone; also, a large number of people; most people”).
- 1894 February, “Reminiscences”, in The Station Agent:
- Everybody and their dog in that town had the "fever and ague," and they walked about like ghosts.
Alternative forms
Synonyms
- the whole world and his dog
- See the list at everybody and his brother and Thesaurus:everybody
Further reading
- “everybody and his (also their, etc.) wife (also brother, cousin, dog, etc.), phrase” under “everybody, pron.”, in OED Online , Oxford: Oxford University Press, September 2025.