Where does the cliché "dog eat dog" originate?

Senior Moments

It's a dog-eat-dog world appears in 1931. The meaning is rather obvious--the world is a ruthless and hard place. The OED2 contains a quote from 1858 referring to an "old proverb" that states dog does not eat dog. The modern phrase may be a play on this old proverb. http://www.wordorigins.org/wordord.htm Apr 28 04, 8:15 AM

peasypod

There are roots to proverbs found in first century BC in Latin and again in 16th century English as well. Apr 28 04, 8:25 AM

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