Dog in the manger/Nigger in the woodpile

Jessie Emerson jessie at SIRSI.COM
Thu Sep 21 14:15:27 UTC 2000


A Murie wrote:
> "Nigger in the woodpile" always meant some hidden nefarious thing, not
necessarily identified or even known.

I have *never* heard the phrase used in this way.  It has always meant a
hidden element in the bloodline that makes the person have dark skin, hair,
eyes, etc., specifically if the rest of the family is very fair.  A similar
expression is "he/she belongs to the milkman," when the person being
described doesn't look like anyone else in the family.

Jessie Emerson



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