Does anybody know the origin of the idiom "Hong Kong dog"?
EDIT: I'm more interested in how the idiom came into being rather than when it first appeared in mainstream media. Something like the guess made in the following comment is most welcome except that trusted sources would be greatly appreciated.
Best Answer
According to Eric Partridge's A dictionary of slang and unconventional English, Hong Kong dog is a tropical fever, and the term is originally 20th century Royal Navy slang.
His source for this is 'Taffrail', or Capt. H Taprell Dorling, DSO, RN, in Carry On, 1916, especially the article 'the Language of the Navy, originally published not later than 1915.
The term is comparable with Malta dog, another local name for traveller's diarrhoea, is also from Royal Navy sailors.
Hong Kong dog can be found as far back as 1899. The Philadelphia medical journal says:
Also from 1899, Madam Izàn: a tourist story says:
William Ernest Russell Martin's 1924 The adventures of a naval paymaster has a whole chapter on Hong Kong dog, unfortunately not readable via Google Books.
But why dog? According to slang lexicographer and author of Green's Dictionary of Slang:
As for dog, there's anecdotal sources describing either being "bitten" by the dog, or the onomatopoeic "barking" noises you made in corners when you were suffering from it.
At All Costs by Sam Moses describes Malta dog during WWII:
Band of Eagles by Frank Barnard also describes WWII pilots falling sick:
Some forum postings agree:
Malta was the headquarters of the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet from 1814 until the mid-1930s, so there was a large navy presence. This ties in with the Royal Navy roots in Partridge's etymology for Hong Kong dog.