dog Latin

American  

noun

1. mongrel or spurious Latin.

2. a jargon imitating Latin.

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dog Latin British  

noun

1. spurious or incorrect Latin

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Etymology

Origin of dog Latin

First recorded in 1760–70

Example Sentences

It is not dog Latin, but Latin ingeniously italianized, or rather Italian, even Mantuan, latinized.

From Gargantua and Pantagruel, Illustrated, Book 1 by Motteux, Peter Anthony

His precise, curial style was easily victorious over the Jesuit's dog Latin, and his expressive German, with his pithy Lutheranisms, was more than a match for the general's Platt-Deutsch dialect.

From Pretty Michal by Jókai, Mór

Who ever bought, who ever read, those cloudy tomes in dog Latin?

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 15, No. 87, January, 1865 by Various

Excellent dog Latin," said Jacques; "and literally translated it signifies: 'Gold from the Governor, Tobacco from the South Side, Asinarian strategy Has brought into his chambers.'

From The Youth of Jefferson A Chronicle of College Scrapes at Williamsburg, in Virginia, A.D. 1764 by Anonymous

It was in the same vein as his "Arabian Nights," and contained much curious comment upon many things that we Anglo Saxons do not talk about, save in medical society meetings, and dog Latin.

From Brann the Iconoclast — Volume 10 by Brann, William Cowper