bark the head off

[nanitha]

may I use this expression in writing:
The dog barked its head off?
thanks

 

[Jill Dorchester]

Yes. That's a common colloquialism in AmE.

 

[Tdol]

The same is true of BrE. I wouldn't use it in formal writing, but it would be fine in a narrative, etc.

 

[emsr2d2]

May I use this expression in writing:
"The dog barked its head off"?
Thanks.

You have two great responses to your question. Now please note my corrections to your post above, in red. Remember to follow these rules of written English:

- Start every sentence with a capital letter.
- End every sentence with a single, appropriate punctuation mark.
- Always capitalise the word "I".
- Do not put a space before a comma, full stop, question mark or exclamation mark.
- Always put a space after a comma, full stop, question mark or exclamation mark.

It helps if you enclose the words you are querying inside quotation mark (as I have added above).

 

[Rover_KE]

There is a discrepancy between your thread title and your question.

We don't say 'The dog barked the head off'.

 

[emsr2d2]

Good point. The phrase is "to XXX one's head off". Various things can be applied there but the most common one is "laugh". One of my favourite jokes as a child was:

- What goes "Ha, ha, bonk"?
- A man laughing his head off!

 

[nanitha]

Yes. That's a common colloquialism in AmE.

Thank you , you help me a lot :-D

 

[Tarheel]

Thank you. You help me a lot :-D

As it is, that indicates that the "help" is an ongoing thing. Instead, say: "Thank you. You helped me a lot."

Now you may thank me. ;-) However, there is no need to make another post. Instead, click Thank, Like, or both.