It means to politely excuse yourself from a situation to go to the restroom or buy a drink. It originated from men disappearing to go bet on horse or dog races. See a man about a dog means the same thing.
The earliest confirmed publication is the 1866 Dion Boucicault play Flying Scud in which a character knowingly breezes past a difficult situation saying, "Excuse me Mr. Quail, I can't stop; I've got to see a man about a dog." In a listing for a 1939 revival on the NBC Radio program America's Lost Plays, Time magazine observed that the phrase is the play's "claim to fame".
During Prohibition in the United States, the phrase see a man about a horse was most commonly used in relation to the consumption or purchase of alcoholic beverages.
During Prohibition in the United States, the phrase see a man about a horse was most commonly used in relation to the consumption or purchase of alcoholic beverages.
by Coweyes February 21, 2013
Get the See a man about a horse mug.Any general business that needs attending to that you may not care to discuss whith the present party.
by moth17 July 19, 2005
Get the see a man about a horse mug.From old spagetthi westerns, where one would "see a man about a horse" when his needs for urinating became to high.
by frakk April 1, 2004
Get the Have to see a man about a horse mug.A discreet way to leave the table at a restaurant to go to the restroom; derived from a 1940's black-and-white film (sorry, cannot recall the name) where an actor literally says it as he leaves a table to see a man at another table about a horse.
by James Pettit August 29, 2005
Get the see a man about a horse mug.by asixe April 23, 2006
Get the talk to a man about a horse mug.by knightmare36 December 28, 2007
Get the talk to a man about a horse mug.To take a piss.
by gypsybelle August 13, 2016
Get the see a man about a horse mug.