"Top Dog" or "Underdog"

Although these words are usually associated with dogfights, where the stronger dog ends up on top, another explanation exists. Before the days of electric sawmills, all timber had to be cut by hand. Felled trees were placed over pits, and two men used a long saw to cut the timber. One one stood in the pit and got covered with sawdust; he became known as the underdog. The more fortunate man, who stood above the pit at ground level, was called the top dog.