Where does this quote come from? "I've got to go see a man about a dog"?

Question

I read online that this quote isn't from a book or any particular source but just a general saying that means, I am going to do drink or basically do anything not generally approved of..
Is this correct, if not where does this quote originate and what does it mean??

Answer 1

"I've got to go see a man about a dog," or "A man about a horse" comes from the races. There are horse races, and dog races, and if you really want to win, you talk to the animal tenders to find out which ones are best. Sometimes a game can be fixed that way for the right price.

It's a really old saying, from at least the 1920s, probably a little earlier, like around the time of the religious revival meetings, where pastors would preach until they were frothing at the mouth, southern babtist-like style. The preachers loved to exhort about the wages of sin, and the evils of drunkenness, gambling, prostitution, fornication, and deceit.

The race tracks were sleazy places, where all of those "sins" could take place. Thus, if you're going to go see a man about a dog, it's not something you want to tell the preacher about... In an era where talking about bodily functions was forbidden, "Seeing a man about a dog," or "horse," somehow came to mean taking a piss too. Maybe because there's that other famous phrase "I've gotta pee like a racehorse."

Answer 2

The quote is, "I've got to go see a man about a horse." Which means, I'm going to the men's room.

Answer 3

Apparently Keanu Reeves has said something similar, pertaining to a horse, but the general gist of it all is, going to the bathroom. My dad used to say he was going to the library....go figure.

Answer 4

This has been a useful (and usefully vague) excuse for absenting oneself from company for about 150 years, though the real reason for slipping away has not always been the same.

Answer 5

the Thin man series with William Powell and Myrna Loy

Answer 6

I thought it was a horse, when you have to pee.