dog in the manger A person who out of pure spite prevents others from using or enjoying something that he himself does not need or want. The allusion is to the fable of a dog who situated himself in a manger and selfishly would not allow the ox or horse to feed on the hay it contained. This expression has been in use since at least the late 1500s.

gall and wormwood Feelings of intense bitterness and deep resentment; rancor, hostility, or hardness of heart. Both gall and wormwood refer to bitter substances—the former to bile and the latter to a bitter herb. The earliest use of the phrase gall and wormwood appears in Lamentations 3:19.

Today the phrase is heard more often in literary contexts than in everyday speech.

the green-eyed monster Jealousy. This epithet was coined by Shakespeare; lago uses it when warning Othello of the destructive nature of jealousy:

Green-eyed ‘jealous’ and green with envy are common variants.

put [someone’s] nose out of joint See HUMILIATION.

sour grapes Disdain or contempt affected as a rationale for that which one does not or cannot have; envy, resentment. This expression is derived from Aesop’s fable of The Fox and the Grapes, in which a hungry fox, unable to reach a cluster of grapes after repeated attempts, finally gives up and leaves, justifying his failure by telling himself that the grapes were undoubtedly sour anyway.