Quote
1. Quote - Listen to the quote and guess what the slang means.

“I like having some distance from Hollywood because I don’t have to know who’s top dog this week and who’s out from last week. I don’t know who anybody is and I really like it.”
- Johnny Depp on living in France instead of Hollywood. (IGN International)
Definition
1. Definition - Study the definition.
the leader; the top person in a group
2. Use - Learn how the slang is used.
It isn’t nice to call someone a dog. But if you call someone top dog, that’s different.
Dogs are pack animals. They like to belong to a group. They also like to know which dog is the leader of the group. In a pack of dogs, the leader is known as the top dog. The top dog might be the biggest and strongest, or the smartest of the pack. He’s the dog that all the other dogs have to respect.
Humans like to belong to groups too. Some groups are harder to be a part of than others. For example, not everyone can be a movie star in Hollywood. But even in Hollywood, some stars are more popular and important than others. Even in Hollywood there is a top dog.
Johnny Depp has been the top dog in Hollywood before. He’s been the actor whom every director wants in his films. He’s been the guy all the girls want to date. But he got tired of living in Hollywood. He moved to France so he wouldn’t have to pay attention to who was top dog in the movie business, and who was just a dog.
Johnny Depp says that in Hollywood, the top dog is always changing. He means that one person is never on top for long. Old stars lose their popularity, and new stars become the hot young thing. That’s why he would rather not worry about who is top dog, and who isn’t. He just wants to enjoy his life outside of the spotlight.
Who is top dog at your job? Do you want to be top dog one day? What do you think it takes to become the top dog?
Examples
1. Examples - Hear some example sentences.
“John is the top dog at English, baby!”
“If you want to be top dog at my company, you have to work really long hours.”
“I don’t care about being top dog. I just want to do the best I can.”