not enough to hang a dog on

English[edit]

Of evidence, not strong or compelling; with very little or insubstantial evidence.
- 1899, G.W. Steevens, The Tragedy of Dreyfus, page 89:
  If the evidence had been given at once, I should have said that it looked bad, perhaps, but was not enough to hang a dog on. But after five years of bitter faction?
- 1933, James Hilton, Lost Horizon, published 1973, page 62:
  "So there we were, and probably you'll agree with me that all the evidence, so far, was less than you'd hang a dog on."