【明報專訊】A manger (pronounced MAIN‑jer (豬、牛等家畜的飼料槽) is a container for hay. In one of Aesop's fables (《伊索寓言》), a dog prevented cattle from eating hay from one. "I don't want the hay for myself for I don't eat the stuff," the dog might have said. "So if I can't eat it, no one else is going to have it!" That's the origin of this expression, and it is used to describe someone who withholds (拒絕給予) things from others that are useless to himself. "Ned's being a dog in a manger. He won't loan any of his old textbooks to anyone!"