STEPHEN FRY

Dear Stephen

This is my first post and it is a response to a comment you made on a recent edition I saw of QI.

You said that there is nothing to indicate where the word "Dog" came from, that it just appeared in English and cannot be seen to have been derived from any source. Something I read recently may be an answer to that quandry.

It started with a cartoon I saw where there were 2 fleas meandering through a mass of long hair. One flea says to the other, "I wonder if there really is a Dog?" Not long after I read a religious commentator who stated that the word "Dog" is a mirror image of the word "God" because a dog is the only creature that reflects the love of God. A dog cares not how you treat it, nor what sort of person you are. (Even Blondie loved Hitler.) A dog is the only creature who will give you unconditional love.

Hearing you comment about the word made me wonder if indeed it had simply been created way back when by a religious thinker, another St. Francis maybe, for those very same reasons. Since many people are ignorant of the quality of dogs, or any other animal for that manner, the usage of "dog" was denigrated as time went by to describe those cosidered no better than animals.

Just a thought, so I have chosen to risk all and chuck my idea in to be further chucked about by those far better qualified than I to comment on such heady matters.

Take care and keep well dear Stephen, and thank you so much for what you do.

Brad Golding
Australia