the.com/lapdog
A creature bred for centuries to make submission look like affection.
means A small dog kept mainly as a pet and companion — and by extension, a person who is slavishly obedient or servile to someone more powerful.
from Straightforward compound of 'lap' (the seat made by sitting legs) and 'dog,' first used literally for small breeds bred and kept to sit on laps as companions. The insult sense — a toady who fawns on power — followed naturally once people noticed how the posture of being petted and the posture of sucking up look remarkably alike.
- origin
- bred purely for companionship, not work, since antiquity
- political slang
- means someone who obeys power without question
- irony
- small size, outsized loyalty, zero negotiating power