Engineering Hound
Hi,

I just saw this phrase "XX hound" which means someone is really enthusiastic about something, usually a discipline. In Chinese we have a similar phrase, XX 狗 (e.g 工科狗，化工狗，etc.), but it always comes in a sarcastic tone. I am wondering if people use the phrase in the same sarcastic way in English? Or it can also be used in a non-sarcastic way too?

Question

Engineering Hound
Hi,

I just saw this phrase "XX hound" which means someone is really enthusiastic about something, usually a discipline. In Chinese we have a similar phrase, XX 狗 (e.g 工科狗，化工狗，etc.), but it always comes in a sarcastic tone. I am wondering if people use the phrase in the same sarcastic way in English? Or it can also be used in a non-sarcastic way too?

Answer

No, it can be sarcastic or not in English.  The tone of voice would tell which it is, but it is most often not used sarcastically.

لا تفوّت فرصة تعلّم لغة جديدة وأنت مرتاح في منزلك. تصفّح مجموعتنا المختارة من مدرّسي اللغات ذوي الخبرة وسجّل في درسك الأول الآن!