dog in the manger

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From a Greek fable about a dog preventing other animals from eating the hay in a manger, even though as a carnivore it could not eat the hay itself. Although the story was ascribed to Aesop's Fables in the 15th century, no ancient source does so. The phrase first appears in the writings of Diogenianus.

10 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Chinese Cantonese: 生人霸死地 (saang1 jan4 baa3 sei2 dei6) — one who denies to others something that he or she cannot use
• Chinese Mandarin: 佔著茅坑不拉屎 /占着茅坑不拉屎 (zhàn zhe máokēng bù lāshǐ) — one who denies to others something that he or she cannot use
• French: Le Chien du jardinier — one who denies to others something that he or she cannot use
• German: Neidhammel — one who denies to others something that he or she cannot use
• Latvian: suns uz siena kaudzes (dog on a haystock) — one who denies to others something that he or she cannot use
• Polish: pies ogrodnika — one who denies to others something that he or she cannot use
• Russian: соба́ка на се́не (sobáka na séne) — one who denies to others something that he or she cannot use
• Spanish: ni come, ni deja comer — one who denies to others something that he or she cannot use
• Spanish: perro del hortelano — one who denies to others something that he or she cannot use
• Thai: หมาหวงก้าง (mǎa-hǔuang-gâang) — one who denies to others something that he or she cannot use