Dog in the manger

[Bonnie Osborn Briggs]

I've lived in the South all of my life and I often heard this phrase
used when people were referring to something unknown about a certain
situation.  Maybe this is more of a regional type meaning.

Bonnie Briggs
The University of Memphis

sagehen wrote:
>
> "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