| 释义 |
dog in the manger
dog in the mangern. pl. dogs in the manger One who prevents others from enjoying what one has no use for oneself.
[From a fable in which a dog prevented an ox from eating hay he did not want himself.]dog in the manger n a. a person who prevents others from using something he or she has no use for b. (as modifier): a dog-in-the-manger attitude. dog′ in the man′ger
n. a person who selfishly keeps something not needed or wanted so that others may not enjoy it. [1565–75] dog′-in-the-man′ger, adj. dog in the mangerA person who will not allow someone else to use something that he or she has but is not using; from one of Aesop’s fables in which a dog lying in a manger of hay would not let other animals eat the hay.Thesaurus| Noun | 1. | dog in the manger - someone who prevents you from enjoying something that they themselves have no need forselfish person - a person who is unusually selfish |
dog in the manger
dog in the mangerSomeone who insists on possessing something they do not want or need out of spite to prevent someone else from having it. The toddler, like a dog in the manger, refused to give her older sister the notebook she needed to complete her school assignment.See also: dog, mangerdog in the mangerOne who prevents others from enjoying something despite having no use for it. For example, Why be a dog in the manger? If you aren't going to use those tickets, let someone else have them . This expression alludes to Aesop's fable about a snarling dog that prevents horses from eating fodder that is unpalatable to the dog itself. [Mid-1500s] See also: dog, mangera dog in the manger Someone who is a dog in the manger wants to prevent other people from using or enjoying something that they cannot use or enjoy themselves. As long as he knew you were pining for him Ralph didn't want you, but the minute you became somebody else's he exhibited all the classical signs of the dog in the manger. Note: You can use dog-in-the-manger before nouns to talk about this kind of attitude. He has a dog-in-the-manger attitude. He seems to be saying to hell with the locals, yet spends only two weeks a year at his castle. Note: One of Aesop's fables tells of a dog which prevented an ox from eating the hay in its manger, even though the dog could not eat the hay itself. See also: dog, mangerdog in the manger a person inclined to prevent others from having or using things that they do not want or need themselves. This expression comes from the fable of the dog that lay in a manger to prevent the ox and horse from eating the hay.See also: dog, mangera ˌdog in the ˈmanger a person who selfishly stops other people from using or enjoying something which he/she cannot use or enjoy ▶ ˌdog-in-the-ˈmanger adj.: a dog-in-the-manger attitudeThis expression comes from Aesop’s fable about a dog which lay in a manger (= a long open box) filled with hay. In this way he stopped the other animals eating the hay, even though he could not eat it himself.See also: dog, mangerdog in the mangerA person who takes or keeps something wanted by another out of sheer meanness. The expression comes from one of Aesop’s fables about a snarling dog who prevents the horses from eating their fodder even though the dog himself does not want it. It was probably a cliché by the time Frederick Marryat wrote (Japhet, 1836), “What a dog in the manger you must be—you can’t marry them both.”See also: dog, mangerdog in the mangerNot permitting others to enjoy something you don't need out of spite, a spoilsport. In Aesop's fable of the same name, a dog took a nap in a manger full of hay. When an ox entered and tried to get to its feed, the dog barked menacingly and refused admission, even though the hay was of no value to the dog. The moral: “People often grudge others what they cannot enjoy themselves.”See also: dog, mangerdog in the manger
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