# that dog won't hunt
## English
### Alternative forms

* that dog don't hunt

### Etymology

Apparently originating from the southern United States, the phrase may refer to a hunting dog that refuses to do its job.

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ðæt ˈdɒɡ wəʊnt ˈhʌnt/, /ðət-/
* (General American) IPA: /ðæt ˈdɔɡ woʊnt ˈhʌnt/, /ðət-/
* Audio (General Australian):(file)

### Phrase

that dog won't hunt
* (US) That idea will not work; that is an inadequate explanation or proposition.
** [1939 December, Paul Brewster, “Folk ‘Sayings’ from Indiana”, in American Speech: A Quarterly of Linguistic Usage, volume XIV, [Tuscaloosa, Ala.]: Published by the University of Alabama Press for the American Dialect Society, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 266:‘If the’ ain’t no fools, the’ ain’t no fun,’ said usually in self-derision; and ‘That old dog won't hunt,’ meaning that an excuse offered will not serve. These and the numerous specimens which follow have simply been grouped by the present writer under the heading of Miscellaneous, explanations being made only when the meaning is not clearly evident.]
** [1965, Jesse Hill Ford, The Liberation of Lord Byron Jones, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown and Company, OCLC 291992; republished as The Liberation of L. B. Jones (Signet Novel; Y4209), New York, N.Y.: New American Library, 1967, OCLC 29459320, page 41:
    "Calling her house help Mr. and Mrs. just won't get it! That old dog won't hunt," Oman had confided. / "I know, but let her discover it herself," Steve had said.]
** 1970 February 7, “Rusk advocated halt of bombing: LBJ says in interview”, in Sarasota Herald-Tribune, page 3A, column 1:On the [Arthur] Goldberg proposal to stop all the bombing, [Ellsworth] Bunker "came back strong and said, 'I just can't. That dog won't hunt. We just cannot get that over, it would just blow everything.' […]"
** 1987 August 6, Tom Wicker, “In the nation: That dog won't hunt”, in The New York Times‎, archived from the original on 24 May 2015:If, as is more likely, Mr. [Ronald] Reagan's plan is just a ploy to win votes for renewed military aid to the C.I.A.-organized and C.I.A.-controlled contras in Nicaragua, a Congress burned once too often should be able to see right through it. Either way, as Lyndon Johnson used to say of losing propositions, "That dog won't hunt."
** 2023 September 21, Grace Parra Janney, “Something Borrowed, Something Green” (9:24 from the start), in Star Trek: Lower Decks‎, season 4, episode 4, spoken by Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid):“Oh, what in the Sam Hill are you a-wearing? I thought I was supposed to be Twain.” “I say you are incorrect, sir. I believe we decided I would be Twain.” “Twin Twains? That dog won't hunt.” “Uh, Mr. Clemens?” “Mmhmm. That's me.” “No, I'm Twain. Switch costumes, you ignominious pretender.” “You're more stubborn than a senate mule.” “Grits, grits, grits!” “Tarnation!” “Fancy pants, big-city lawyer.” “I say you are incorrect, sir.”

#### Synonyms

* that cock won't fight
* that old dog won't hunt
* that dog don't run

### References

* ↑ “that dog won't hunt”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present, retrieved 22 February 2017, reproduced from Barbara Ann Kipfer and Robert L[undquist] Chapman, editors, Dictionary of American Slang, 4th edition, New York, N.Y.: Collins, 2007, →ISBN.