In the short story "The Dog that Bit People" by James Thurber, the connotation of Muggs' epitaph reads "Cave Canem." "Cave Canem is a Latin phrase which literally means in English "Beware of the Dog." This statement alarms a person to the inherent danger regarding the dog and is used as a warning for a dog that might bite. Muggs bit more than forty people during his lifetime. This is the reason why the negative connotation "Cave Canem" has been used in his epitaph. The connotation serves as a fond reminder of the dog's biting incidents.
