[Idiom] Expression "kiss the pooch"

[ha179]

Dear teachers and friends,
One of my friends came across this article and we challenge ourselves by trying to paraphrase sentences in the story, i.e. rewrite them in simple English. With the help of Internet, we could easily search for the expressions' meanings from various sources. But near the end of the story there is a difficult expression, which I could only find in this post. After reading the text, I assumed the meaning of the phrase "kiss the pooch" as "collapse". I'm not sure if I've understood it right; so I'd appreciate if you can share with me your understanding.
Thank you all in advance!

 

[driftwood]

Without more context, I would not know what it means.

I myself have done some search for this phrase on the Internet and come up with a different conclusion.
At a wedding ceremony, the presiding or officiating person will say, "Now kiss the bride!" to signify that the groom and bride are now officially married.
Once can use, "Kiss the pooch!" instead of "Kiss the bride" toward the end of dogs' wedding.

 

[ha179]

Without more context, I would not know what it means.

I myself have done some search for this phrase on the Internet and come up with a different conclusion.
At a wedding ceremony, the presiding or officiating person will say, "Now kiss the bride!" to signify that the groom and bride are now officially married.
Once can use, "Kiss the pooch!" instead of "Kiss the bride" toward the end of dogs' wedding.

First of all, thanks a lot for your response, Driftwood!
Yes, I also found that search result, but I don't think it suits the context. The sentence that contains the expression in the article is "Well, I tried to soft peddle it for my friend's sake, but she really kissed the pooch on this one."; there isn't any wedding for dogs going on. Anyways, thanks again for taking your time trying to find the answer. I appreciate that!

 

[Raymott]

Without more context, I would not know what it means.

I myself have done some search for this phrase on the Internet and come up with a different conclusion.
At a wedding ceremony, the presiding or officiating person will say, "Now kiss the bride!" to signify that the groom and bride are now officially married.
Once can use, "Kiss the pooch!" instead of "Kiss the bride" toward the end of dogs' wedding.

The celebrant normally says "You may now kiss the bride". It's permission, not an order.

 

[JMurray]

not a teacher

I've not heard the phrase, but here's what I think.
I've seen "pooched", as in "he pooched out his lip", meaning to pout in annoyance or something similar. There are a few examples in COCA.
This link suggests that "to pooch" is more of a kissing action: https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/pooch
My guess is that "to kiss the pooch" means to act sulky and annoyed, which fits context of the article.


PS:Yes, that sounds more likely, Rover (below).

 

[Rover_KE]

I think it's a euphemism for 'screw the pooch', itself a euphemism for 'f*ck the dog'.

screw the pooch

1. (idiomatic) to screw up; to fail in dramatic and ignominious fashion

(Wiktionary)

Click here for the etymology.

I found the above by going to OneLook Dictionary Search and entering *pooch (find words and phrases that end with 'pooch').

Rover

 

[emsr2d2]

Aha! I knew it reminded me of something. One of my favourite films (Stand By Me) contains the line "He really screwed the pooch", meaning to mess up or screw up really badly.

 

[ha179]

I think it's a euphemism for 'screw the pooch', itself a euphemism for 'f*ck the dog'.

screw the pooch

1. (idiomatic) to screw up; to fail in dramatic and ignominious fashion

(Wiktionary)

Click here for the etymology.

I found the above by going to OneLook Dictionary Search and entering *pooch (find words and phrases that end with 'pooch').

Rover

Thank you so much for your answer as well as instruction to find the answer, dear Rover! Now not only has my query been dealt with, but I also got to know one great searching site Your share is deeply appreciated!

 

[Raymott]

I think something has gone wrong with this thread. Has someone come up with meaning of "Kiss the pooch"?
THe OP has given this link as the source:
LIPA: Kissing the Pooch
It doesn't seem to refer to intercourse with dogs.
But for anyone really interested, the author has kindly given his email address at the bottom.

 

[Rover_KE]

The LIPA is reported to have 'failed in dramatic and ignominious fashion' (Wikipedia).

 

[emsr2d2]

I think something has gone wrong with this thread. Has someone come up with meaning of "Kiss the pooch"?
THe OP has given this link as the source:
LIPA: Kissing the Pooch
It doesn't seem to refer to intercourse with dogs.
But for anyone really interested, the author has kindly given his email address at the bottom.

I think that it being a variation on "screw the pooch" to mean "to mess up really badly" fits perfectly. I don't know if the author just invented the variation or if it's one that maybe just hasn't made it to the net yet but I would say I'm 99% certain that's what it means. Given the context of the story, the "she" in the story did indeed mess up badly and the narrator of the story tells her what he thinks in slightly less forceful terms but what he wants to tell her is that she really messed up. The phrase "screw the pooch" doesn't have anything to do with intercourse with dogs either.

 

[Raymott]

The phrase "screw the pooch" doesn't have anything to do with intercourse with dogs either.

But if Rover is right, and "kiss the pooch" means "screw the pooch" which means "f*ck the dog", then it has something to do with intercourse with dogs. Maybe I was tired when I read the thread last. I'll let it go.

 

[Rover_KE]

Before you let it go, did you read the etymology I linked to?

[h=3]Etymology[edit][/h]The term was first documented in the early "Mercury" days of the US space program. It came there from a Yale graduate named John Rawlings who helped design the astronauts' space suits. The phrase is actually a bastardization of an earlier, more vulgar and direct term which was slang for doing something very much the wrong way, as in "you are fucking the dog!" At Yale a friend of Rawlings', the radio DJ Jack May (a.k.a. "Candied Yam Jackson") amended this term to "screwing the pooch" which was simultaneously less vulgar and more pleasing to the ear.
The term, however, did not enter the popular lexicon until Tom Wolfe used it in his book about the space program, The Right Stuff, where it was used to describe a supposed mistake by astronaut Gus Grissom.

(Wiktionary)