# I only just found out that "manger" isn't a synonym for crib, but a trough for feeding animals **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 10, 2014, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-only-just-found-out-that-manger-isnt-a-synonym-for-crib-but-a-trough-for-feeding-animals/678448 "2014-01-10T16:54:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-only-just-found-out-that-manger-isnt-a-synonym-for-crib-but-a-trough-for-feeding-animals/678448/1 "2014-01-10T16:54:35Z")
As I bet 99.9 percent of you has always known, in the Christian birth of Jesus story, Baby J was put in animal food trough out of necessity, since Mom and “Pop” couldn’t get a room and had to stay in a stable. It was only like a year ago (and I’m in my 40s) that I learned the correct definition word “manger”. Until then, I thought it was a primitive crib or something. I guess every time I heard the story in church as a kid it was assumed I knew what the word meant and it was never explained to me. I never thought it odd that Mary and Joseph would have a crib in a stable, although I would have speculated they brought it with them or rigged one up. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-only-just-found-out-that-manger-isnt-a-synonym-for-crib-but-a-trough-for-feeding-animals/678448/2 "2014-01-10T17:17:38Z")
It’s right in the first line of the [song](http://www.metrolyrics.com/away-in-a-manger-lyrics-christmas-carols.html). Away in a manger, **no crib for a bed**. ---
**Author:** ![jayrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/47e85d/32.png) [@jayrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayrey)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-only-just-found-out-that-manger-isnt-a-synonym-for-crib-but-a-trough-for-feeding-animals/678448/3 "2014-01-10T17:34:29Z")
I’m guessing that you were a city kid and never had any first-hand experience with farm animals. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-only-just-found-out-that-manger-isnt-a-synonym-for-crib-but-a-trough-for-feeding-animals/678448/4 "2014-01-10T17:36:40Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > As I bet 99.9 percent of you has always known, in the Christian birth of Jesus story, Baby J was put in animal food trough out of necessity, since Mom and “Pop” couldn’t get a room and had to stay in a stable. > [@jayrey](#): > > I’m guessing that you were a city kid and never had any first-hand experience with farm animals. City kid here. I knew, and assumed ‘manger’ came from _mangier_, ‘to eat’. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-only-just-found-out-that-manger-isnt-a-synonym-for-crib-but-a-trough-for-feeding-animals/678448/5 "2014-01-10T18:14:40Z")
> [@Kimballkid](#): > > It’s right in the first line of the [song](http://www.metrolyrics.com/away-in-a-manger-lyrics-christmas-carols.html). > > Away in a manger, **no crib for a bed**. While that’s obviously a good clue, I could see how the OP might make his mistake. I could rewrite the song “Away in a bassinet, no crib for a bed” and have something that’s still grammatically correct, where we’re now making a distinction about the different kinds of things a baby might sleep in. On the other hand, here’s a good :smack: for the OP. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-only-just-found-out-that-manger-isnt-a-synonym-for-crib-but-a-trough-for-feeding-animals/678448/6 "2014-01-10T18:23:15Z")
[Dog in the manger?](http://time4felt.com/craftermom/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/IMG_4634.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-only-just-found-out-that-manger-isnt-a-synonym-for-crib-but-a-trough-for-feeding-animals/678448/7 "2014-01-10T18:41:46Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > [Dog in the manger?](http://time4felt.com/craftermom/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/IMG_4634.jpg) Not sure why that picture goes with that caption particularly, but yeah, as a city kid I also might have been confused about this, except that as a non-Christian I encountered the word “manger” in Aesop’s Fables (the story of [The Dog In The Manger](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dog_in_the_Manger)) before or at the same time as learning it in the lyrics to some Christmas song or other. I also thought the lyrics were “Round [the] young virgin, mother and child”, and pictured three people (a virgin, mother and child) after looking up what a “virgin” was in the dictionary, until I later learned the theology of the virgin birth. My “city kid” moment was when working as a programmer for a military contractor after graduating from college (age 21) and being assigned to work on a helicopter flight planning software module for the Air Force. Specifically, a “moonshadowing” module to account for what parts of the terrain would be under cover of darkness based on a clear night with a calculated phase and elevation of the moon for that part of the world and the time of flight. I expressed surprise that the moon would be bright enough to cast a shadow significant enough to hide in, and everyone else there (people from Texas and Tennessee) looked at me funny. “You’ve never been out at night when the moon’s up? You’ve never seen the moonlight?” “Sure I have, but it’s not much of a factor on the ground. I mean, the street lights just flood it out.” Cue the jokes of the value of an Ivy League Education vis-a-vis the Real World. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-only-just-found-out-that-manger-isnt-a-synonym-for-crib-but-a-trough-for-feeding-animals/678448/8 "2014-01-10T18:42:38Z")
When I was little, I thought a “manger” was another word for a “stable.” Mainly because the bible says Mary and Joseph “laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them at the inn.” So I figured the manger was shelter, like the inn would have been. I grew up in the suburbs and had no experience with mangers or stables. I think I learned the correct meaning before adulthood, though. ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-only-just-found-out-that-manger-isnt-a-synonym-for-crib-but-a-trough-for-feeding-animals/678448/9 "2014-01-10T18:46:06Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > City kid here. I knew, and assumed ‘manger’ came from _mangier_, ‘to eat’. And now (as I’m sure you’re aware) “to eat” in French is “manger” anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-only-just-found-out-that-manger-isnt-a-synonym-for-crib-but-a-trough-for-feeding-animals/678448/10 "2014-01-10T18:46:55Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > Not sure why that picture goes with that caption particularly, but yeah, as a city kid I also might have been confused about this, except that as a non-Christian I encountered the word “manger” in Aesop’s Fables (the story of [The Dog In The Manger](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dog_in_the_Manger)) before or at the same time as learning it in the lyrics to some Christmas song or other. > > I also thought the lyrics were “Round [the] young virgin, mother and child”, and pictured three people (a virgin, mother and child) after looking up what a “virgin” was in the dictionary, until I later learned the theology of the virgin birth. > > My “city kid” moment was when working as a programmer for a military contractor after graduating from college (age 21) and being assigned to work on a helicopter flight planning software module for the Air Force. Specifically, a “moonshadowing” module to account for what parts of the terrain would be under cover of darkness based on a clear night with a calculated phase and elevation of the moon for that part of the world and the time of flight. > > I expressed surprise that the moon would be bright enough to cast a shadow significant enough to hide in, and everyone else there (people from Texas and Tennessee) looked at me funny. “You’ve never been out at night when the moon’s up? You’ve never seen the moonlight?” “Sure I have, but it’s not much of a factor on the ground. I mean, the street lights just flood it out.” > > Cue the jokes of the value of an Ivy League Education vis-a-vis the Real World. That’s a good one. A second-hand version - my family has a cabin in northern Quebec, and the first time my wife went up there was the first time she had ever seen the Milky Way. Until then, she had always assumed it was something you could only see from space! That one’s probably a lot more understandable though - you have to go pretty remote to see the milky way not drowned out with light pollution. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-only-just-found-out-that-manger-isnt-a-synonym-for-crib-but-a-trough-for-feeding-animals/678448/11 "2014-01-10T18:56:31Z")
I was in a Mexican restaurant with extended family and had just been introduced to a cousin’s new girlfriend (a 30-something year old woman) when she asked “I wonder how you say ‘tequila’ in Spanish?” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-only-just-found-out-that-manger-isnt-a-synonym-for-crib-but-a-trough-for-feeding-animals/678448/12 "2014-01-10T19:14:22Z")
> [@Bozuit](#): > > And now (as I’m sure you’re aware) “to eat” in French is “manger” anyway. Je ne parle pas français. ☹ (But I thought the word didn’t have an ‘i’ in it.) > [@robardin](#): > > I encountered the word “manger” in Aesop’s Fables (the story of [The Dog In The Manger](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dog_in_the_Manger)) before or at the same time as learning it in the lyrics to some Christmas song or other. Me too. I had a (Disney?) record of a then-well-known character actor (red hair, raspy voice) reading the stories. The actor, IIRC, was wearing a toga on the album cover. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-only-just-found-out-that-manger-isnt-a-synonym-for-crib-but-a-trough-for-feeding-animals/678448/13 "2014-01-10T19:16:22Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > [Dog in the manger?](http://time4felt.com/craftermom/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/IMG_4634.jpg) Actually, with the Christ Child lying there the traditional scene is more accurately … **God in the Manger** ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-only-just-found-out-that-manger-isnt-a-synonym-for-crib-but-a-trough-for-feeding-animals/678448/14 "2014-01-10T19:19:50Z")
I’ve actually worked on farms and I’ve never heard anyone refer to a manger. The thing animals ate out of was a feed trough. I realized a manger wasn’t a crib but I thought it was an archaic word for a stable or a stall. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-only-just-found-out-that-manger-isnt-a-synonym-for-crib-but-a-trough-for-feeding-animals/678448/15 "2014-01-10T19:21:01Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Actually, with the Christ Child lying there the traditional scene is more accurately > > … **God in the Manger** Fortunately the animals in the stable were herbivores, and the first eucharist was delayed for 34 years. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-only-just-found-out-that-manger-isnt-a-synonym-for-crib-but-a-trough-for-feeding-animals/678448/16 "2014-01-10T19:46:16Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > When I was little, I thought a “manger” was another word for a “stable.” Ditto. I think I was in high school before I realized my mistake. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-only-just-found-out-that-manger-isnt-a-synonym-for-crib-but-a-trough-for-feeding-animals/678448/17 "2014-01-10T19:51:23Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > It was only like a year ago (and I’m in my 40s) that I learned the correct definition word “manger”. Until then, I thought it was a primitive crib or something. I guess every time I heard the story in church as a kid it was assumed I knew what the word meant and it was never explained to me. I never thought it odd that Mary and Joseph would have a crib in a stable, although I would have speculated they brought it with them or rigged one up. You’d never seen a Nativity? Maybe the ones over there are different, but the ones I’m used to always have the child in something that’s the wrong shape for a crib (it tends to be shorter than an actual manger, although the shape is right). ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-only-just-found-out-that-manger-isnt-a-synonym-for-crib-but-a-trough-for-feeding-animals/678448/18 "2014-01-10T20:28:50Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > As I bet 99.9 percent of you has always known, in the Christian birth of Jesus story, Baby J was put in animal food trough out of necessity, since Mom and “Pop” couldn’t get a room and had to stay in a stable. > > It was only like a year ago (and I’m in my 40s) that I learned the correct definition word “manger”. Until then, I thought it was a primitive crib or something. I guess every time I heard the story in church as a kid it was assumed I knew what the word meant and it was never explained to me. I never thought it odd that Mary and Joseph would have a crib in a stable, although I would have speculated they brought it with them or rigged one up. so you thought people kept cribs in their stables because…? answer: It’s for their kids (goats) ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-only-just-found-out-that-manger-isnt-a-synonym-for-crib-but-a-trough-for-feeding-animals/678448/19 "2014-01-10T20:33:36Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > “I wonder how you say ‘tequila’ in Spanish?” Obligatory _The Godfather, Part II_ reference. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2014, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-only-just-found-out-that-manger-isnt-a-synonym-for-crib-but-a-trough-for-feeding-animals/678448/20 "2014-01-10T20:34:49Z")
> [@Skammer](#): > > When I was little, I thought a “manger” was another word for a “stable.” It’s not unusual to have a nativity scene described as [the various figures] “in” a manger. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-only-just-found-out-that-manger-isnt-a-synonym-for-crib-but-a-trough-for-feeding-animals/678448.md?page=2)