Friday, October 04, 2013

Today's phrases

cat's-paw \KATS-paw\ - 1. a light air that ruffles the surface of the water in irregular patches during a calm  2. one used by another as a tool : dupe  3. a hitch knot formed with two eyes for attaching a line to a hook
I saw this WOTD and thought, "I know what that is!" Then none of the definitions were what I was thinking of.  I never considered the tool's history, though, which makes a lot of sense.
dog in the manger \'dawg-in-thuh-MAYN-jur\ -  a person who selfishly withholds from others something useless to himself
I had never heard this idiom, nor have I heard of the related fable.

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