I came across the phrase “There’s nothing bulldog about Britain hovering somewhere in the mid-Atlantic,” in the following sentence of New York Times (December 12) article, titled “The British Euro Farce” commenting on British PM Cameron’s veto of Europe-bolstering treaty change:
“After uncertain mumblings, the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, managed to reach beyond this theater to something approaching strategic reflection. Declaring himself “bitterly disappointed” at Cameron’s decision, he said: “There’s nothing bulldog about Britain hovering somewhere in the mid-Atlantic, not standing tall in Europe, not being taken seriously in Washington.”
From the preceding line of the article:
“Since Cameron’s “No,” there’s been much chatter about the return of Britain’s “bulldog spirit.” Self-delusion is a lingering attribute of former imperial nations adjusting to a lesser reality,”
I can interpret “bulldog” as “British-ness i.e., British persistence” or “going UK’s own way,” but I’m not sure.
What does “There’s nothing bulldog about Britain doing something” mean? Is the expression, 'nothing bulldog about Britain doing' grammatically right? Is this expression (animal name / country name combination) exclusive to Britain related description?
Can I extend this analogy to “There’s nothing shepherd (bear, Uncle Sam) about German (Russia, America) behaving ..,”?
Best Answer
The figurative usage was probably around much earlier, but here's a reference just after WW1 to the British bulldog spirit carrying us through to victory, though it really caught on during/after WW2 when we survived The Blitz. And, of course, John Bull has been a personification of England/Britain since C18.
Bulldogs are (feasibly incorrectly) assumed to be named for their role in bull baiting. It doesn't matter what the historical truth might be - Brits like (certainly used to like) the imagery. The key characteristics being alluded to are persistence, fortitude, courage, etc.
Clegg probably used the term loosely to imply Britain wasn't living up to its cultural heritage, with maybe something of a crude appeal to patriotism. Just a politician's sound bite, IMHO.
I can't really cite the fact that Brits sometimes call the French "frogs" as part of the same pattern, but before WW2 Brits often used the Russian bear to refer to the country. I'm sure there are other animal/country conflations, but I can't think of one for Germany - as of WW2 we called them the German steamroller.
There's this use of Enter the dragon 'to save the euro’ referencing China, but it really depends on the pre-existing phrase allowing "dragon" to stand in for "China" in this one-off usage.