dog in the manger

[vil]

Dear teachers,

Would you be kind enough to tell me whether I am right with my interpretation of the expression in bold in the following sentence? May I know whether the phrase in question is common in your area though it is most likely that it is age old? (15 century)

We ought to be seeking to build on the quite hopeful developments, in the greater Beirut area anyway, over the last few days, but instead we appear to be getting even more dog in the manger in our attitude towards Syria.

The infamous 'dog in a manger', who occupied the manger not because he wanted to eat the hay there but to prevent the other animals from doing so, is generally said to have been the invention of the Greek storyteller Aesop

Someone who has a dog-in-the-manger attitude has something of value that he cannot or will not use himself but which he won’t let anybody else have either

dog in a manger = one who prevents others from enjoying something despite having no use for it

This expression “dog in a manger” alludes to Aesop's fable about a snarling dog that prevents horses from eating fodder that is unpalatable to the dog itself

Thank you for your efforts.

Regards,

V

[Rover_KE]

Correct.