Have you ever read, Jimmy Lerner’s “You Got Nothing Coming“? The author describes how a middle-class jewish chap fits into life in an american gang-ridden prison, sharing a modest cell with a neo-nazi muscle freak. Lerner spins a gripping yarn, and weaves prison slang humorously into his tale of a fish out of water. Calling people “dawg” starts to become a part of everyday life for the reader. I call cats dawgs now.
You really root for the author’s skinny, disadvantaged underdawg in the tale. You cheer when he manages to gain respect by setting about tormentors with a fistful of batteries. You feel sorry for him. And then you remember he’s been convicted for manslaughter.
Hang on. I just admitted to talking to cats. I should get out more.