Word.ws English Dictionary

could not get elected dogcatcher

Syllables: could not get elect·ed dog·catch·erUK/kəd ˌnɒt ɡɛt ɪˌlɛktɪd ˈdɒɡkæt͡ʃə//kʊd ˌnɑt ɡɛt əˌlɛktɪd ˈdɔɡˌkæt͡ʃəɹ/

could not get elected dogcatcher phrase: said of someone, particularly a politician, who is extremely unpopular.

Phrase

could not get elected dogcatcher

  1. (US, excessive, idiomatic) Said of someone, particularly a politician, who is extremely unpopular.
    • An insolent Republican newspaper asserts that Mr. [Grover] Cleveland is so unpopular in Washington that he could not be elected dog catcher for the district. This may be true, yet Mr. Cleveland has caught a great many dogs in his day—stealing. His success in that line would naturally make him...1889 February 18, Chicago Herald, quotee, “Unpopular with rascals”, in The Courier-Journal, volume LXXIV, number 7,355 (New Series), Louisville, Ky.: Louisville Courier-Journal Print. Co., →ISSN...
    • It is a well known fact that the average American town will not elect well educated men to municipal offices if they can help it. A man who wears kid gloves and a plug hat couldn't be elected dog catcher in any town in Oklahoma. That is why the affirmative wish the city manager to be elected by a...1918 October 15, “The City Manager Plan. [Condenst Paragrafs.]”, in J. W. Scroogs, editor, University of Oklahoma Bulletin (New Series; no. 156; University Extension Series; no. 43), Norman, Okla....

Origin of could not get elected dogcatcher

Dogcatchers are virtually never elected to their posts; the phrase is hyperbole, using dogcatcher to indicate the most lowly conceivable office.

Questions about could not get elected dogcatcher

What does could not get elected dogcatcher mean?
Could not get elected dogcatcher means said of someone, particularly a politician, who is extremely unpopular.
What part of speech is could not get elected dogcatcher?
Could not get elected dogcatcher is a phrase.
How do you pronounce could not get elected dogcatcher?
Could not get elected dogcatcher is pronounced /kəd ˌnɒt ɡɛt ɪˌlɛktɪd ˈdɒɡkæt͡ʃə/ (UK).

Words near could not get elected dogcatcher in the dictionary

  1. could hear a pin drop
  2. could I get the bill
  3. could I see the menu, please
  4. could not away with
  5. could not care less
  6. could not get elected dogcatcher
  7. could not have cared less
  8. could not help
  9. could not help but
  10. could of
  11. could use

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: could not get elected dogcatcher (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-could not get elected dogcatcher.oga, En-au-could not get elected dogcatcher.ogg.

Cite this entry: “could not get elected dogcatcher.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/could_not_get_elected_dogcatcher. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.