Running dog

Running dog is a pejorative term for an unprincipled person who helps or flatters those more powerful and often evil. It is a literal translation of the Chinese pejorative 走狗 (pinyin: zǒu gǒu), meaning a yes-man or lackey, and is derived from the tendency of dogs to follow after humans in hopes of receiving food scraps. Historian Yuan-tsung Chen notes that "In the West, a dog is a man's best friend; but in China, dogs are abject creatures. In Chinese, no idiomatic expression was more demeaning than the term 'running dogs.'"

Running dog

Running dog is a pejorative term for an unprincipled person who helps or flatters those more powerful and often evil. It is a literal translation of the Chinese pejorative 走狗 (pinyin: zǒu gǒu), meaning a yes-man or lackey, and is derived from the tendency of dogs to follow after humans in hopes of receiving food scraps. Historian Yuan-tsung Chen notes that "In the West, a dog is a man's best friend; but in China, dogs are abject creatures. In Chinese, no idiomatic expression was more demeaning than the term 'running dogs.'"