Earmark

Question

Hi.When would you use the word "earmark"?Can I say "the earmarks of my dog", to indicate the physical/behavioral characteristics that make him special/distinguishable?My understanding is that you use "earmark" with cattle or the likes, so maybe it wouldn't be exactly flattering.If not, what word could I use?

GPY · Accepted Answer

I only use "earmark" as a verb. Dictionaries say that "earmark" can mean "A characteristic or identifying feature". An example sentence is ‘this car has all the earmarks of a classic’ (https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/earmark). I have to say that I don't think I have ever heard the word used this way. That example sounds weird to me, as does "the earmarks of my dog", which I would take to mean some sort of marking on the dog's ears. Perhaps others may be able to comment on this too.

CalifJim · Answer

InterventizioCan I say "the earmarks of my dog", to indicate the physical/behavioral characteristics that make him special/distinguishable?

No. That doesn't sound like a correct use of 'earmarks' to my ear.

The expression I'm most familiar with is like the example in GPY's post.

X has all the earmarks of a Y.

The idea is that X is probably a Y because it has so many characteristics that a Y has.

If you watch your dog over a period of months, and you see that it likes to run and fetch, and it is very good at those things, you might say,

My dog has all the earmarks of being a great hunting dog.

"earmarks" has nothing whatsoever to do with your dog's ears, by the way. If you want to talk about that, you can say "the (unique) markings on my dog's ears".

CJ

Earmark

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