Dog ears


A dog ear is a folded down corner of a book page. The name arises from the fact that the ears of many breeds of domestic dog flap over. A dog ear can serve as a bookmark. The practice is generally frowned upon by those that want to preserve books in their original condition. Sometimes, it is also used to keep sheets of paper together, in the absence of a stapler or paper clip.
The phrase dates back at least to the late 18th century:
Dog-earing is also commonly used to mark a section or phrase in a book that one finds to be important or of personal meaning.
Dog-ears can range in size from the tip of the page to half the page. Although people generally dog-ear the top section of pages, some also dog-ear on the bottom half of pages. Dog-ears work best on thin pages. Dog-ears may be unmade by folding it back into its original location and compressing the pages of the book together. Removing dog-ears is not recommended on paper that has yellowed from age, as it may cause the flap to separate from the page. Dog-earing more than one successive page can cause problems, as the flaps may cause the marked sections to bulge and distort the book. Reference works are most prone to this problem.