General
dog and bone
What does dog and bone mean?
Clipped to 'dog', a phone call or the act of phoning.
"Give us a bell on the dog later."
Origin
Twentieth-century East End rhyming slang on 'phone', coined as the household telephone spread through working London; everyday-object rhymes like this belong to the living Cockney tradition first catalogued by Hotten in 1859.
Frequently asked questions
What does dog and bone mean in Cockney?
It means the telephone. 'Bone' rhymes with 'phone', shortened to 'dog'.
Is dog and bone still used?
Yes, it's one of the most recognisable pieces of rhyming slang, still heard for the phone today.
Where did dog and bone come from?
From twentieth-century East End speech, as the telephone became common in ordinary homes.
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