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It Takes a Big Dog to Weigh a Ton

An Iowa listener says her father was known for being laconic. When the family tried to draw him out by asking his opinion, he’d often respond with the observation Well, I think it takes a big dog to weigh a ton, suggesting something along the lines of “I don’t know. This sounds like a real problem for you.” There are many different variants of this expression, varying according to the large thing — such as a big woman, a big man, a big hog, a big steer — and the weight, such as a thousand pounds, five hundred pounds, a hundred pounds, and fifty pounds. Sometimes the word big itself is also modified as pretty big or mighty big. This is part of a complete episode.

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