the last dog is hung
- idiom
- Archaic
:
hasta el último momento
- The team kept trying until the last dog is hung, refusing to concede defeat.
Examples
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She vowed to pursue her dreams until the last dog is hung, no matter the challenges.
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Don't worry, we'll keep working until the last dog is hung!
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Negotiations dragged on until the last dog is hung, with no side willing to give up.
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We won't stop until the last dog is hung.
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The team kept trying until the last dog is hung, refusing to concede defeat.
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She vowed to pursue her dreams until the last dog is hung, no matter the challenges.
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Negotiations dragged on until the last dog is hung, with no side willing to give up.
Synonyms
167
3.6
To keep trying and not give up when things are hard
46
3.3
To continue doing something and refuse to give up
8
5.5
Keep doing something until it is completely finished, even when it is very hard
To keep supporting something until the very end, no matter how long it takes
Surface Forms
Morphology
The literal meanings of 'last' + 'dog' + 'hung' suggest a physical action (a dog being hung) rather than the abstract sense of continuing effort; there is no transparent compositional route from these constituents to the notion of persistence. The usage is idiomatic/regional and not a common cross-linguistic pattern, so a B1 learner who knows the component words would likely not infer the intended figurative meaning without prior exposure.
Etymology
The last dog is hung may come from an old hunting picture: hunters would hang up the last dog or the last animal at the end of the day to show the job was finished. So, it now means 'keep going until everything is done'.