to get elected dogcatcher
- idiom
- Informal
:
no ser elegido ni para un cargo menor
- Despite running several times, she couldn't even get elected dogcatcher in her hometown.
Examples
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They joked that he was so unpopular he wouldn't get elected dogcatcher if he tried.
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Even with endorsements, his campaign was so weak he failed to get elected dogcatcher.
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He couldn't even get elected dogcatcher in his hometown.
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Did she really get elected dogcatcher?
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Despite her best efforts, she couldn't even get elected dogcatcher, which showed how little support she had.
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He was so disliked in the community that he failed to get elected dogcatcher despite campaigning hard.
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Everyone laughed at the idea that he would ever get elected dogcatcher since he had no popularity at all.
How Popular
Surface Forms
Morphology
get + elected + dogcatcher
The phrase's literal composition ('get' + 'elected' + 'dogcatcher' = to be elected to the low-status post of dogcatcher) is directly derivable from its constituents, so a learner who knows those words can parse the basic meaning. However, the conventional use relies on a pragmatic, ironic scalar inference (i.e. failing even to win the most minor office) and some cultural/world knowledge about the low status of a 'dogcatcher', so the full communicative force is not entirely predictable from the parts alone.
Etymology
Get elected dogcatcher may come from the image of a local job called the dogcatcher, the person who catches stray dogs and is seen as a small, unimportant job. If someone cannot even 'get elected' to that job, the phrase shows they are very unpopular, so it means 'to fail to win even the most minor office'.