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Archiver > ABOUT-WORDS > 2004-04 > 1081342866


From: "Bruce Todd" <>
Subject: Dog-in-the-manger
Date: Wed, 7 Apr 2004 09:01:06 -0400


Here's an interesting expression, with an explanation from Random House -

dog in the manger,
a person who selfishly keeps something that he or she does not really need or want so that others may not use or enjoy it.
[1555-65]
-dog-in-the-manger, adj.

This is an example of a dictionary being very unhelpful. Random House leaves us out in the cold to come up with an adjectival meaning for dog-in-the-manger.

What synonymous adjective(s) would you come up with for the noun phrase so defined? "Selfish" might be obvious, but does it really fit the definition? Doesn't "selfishness" indicate that the person "wants" the thing in question for himself, rather than simply denying it to others? Isn't there a better adjective, maybe "disgruntled"?

Here are some examples of dog-in-the-manger attitudes from World Wide Words. What I am trying to do is come up with appropriate synonymous adjectives, if there are any? Any suggestions?

From WWW -

An example might be an ex-husband who takes extreme steps to prevent his ex-wife from forming an attachment to another man, out of an unreasonable feeling that "if I can't have her, nobody shall". Other examples might be a driver who never passes anybody else but also never allows anybody else to pass him, or a man who has some bricks left over after a job on his house but throws them away rather than give them to his neighbour. A recent example appeared in an article from the Africa News Service: "I have come to understand that he is the quintessential dog in the manger. Either he gets his object of pursuit or it is destroyed. It cannot go to any other contestant".
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Bruce.


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