Origins of the idiom gone to the dogs

IN PREHISTORIC China dogs were not allowed inside the city walls. All rubbish had to be deposited outside the city walls.

IN PREHISTORIC China dogs were not allowed inside the city walls. All rubbish had to be deposited outside the city walls.

When criminals were banished from the city, having to compete with the dogs for food from the rubbish heap, they were said to have "gone to the dogs". This is the origin of the saying.

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