Mike in Jacksonville, Florida, is curious about the phrase There’s no use in keeping the dogs and doing the barking yourself. His dad would use it when delegating a chore to one of his kids. As early as the 1500s, the proverb Don’t keep...
rark up v. phr.— «They were supposed to come galloping out of a wood shed (on a long rope) and bark viciously at the approaching gang of people. I was in the woodshed rarking them up, but they run out half-barking, decide there wasn’t any...