Dog in the manger

[sagehen]

Karl Krahnke wrote:
>One of my linguist colleagues, of Irish origin, offers the form "dog in a
>manger" in the sense of "an element in the whole that screws things up."


"Nigger in the woodpile" always meant some hidden nefarious thing, not
necessarily identified or even known.  "Dog in the manger" on the other
hand had the very specific meaning  of hogging something that one didn't
really want or have use for, but didn't want anyone else to have.   I never
heard it used in the sense given above.
A. Murie