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- DictionaryThe tail wags the dog
- ▪ the less important or subsidiary factor, person, or thing dominates a situation; the usual roles are reversed
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What to Know. The tail wagging the dog is an idiom that usually refers to something important or powerful being controlled by something less so. Its earliest use is in the 1858 play Our American Cousin.
Wag the dog is, as a political term, the act of creating a diversion from a damaging issue usually through military force. It stems from the generic use of the term to mean a small and seemingly unimportant entity (the tail) controls a bigger, more important one (the dog).
Jul 8, 2018 · Wag the dog can be used as a verb or an adjective. A strategy can be referred to as “a real wag the dog tactic,” or you can say that “The prime minister is wagging the dog with this accusation.”
Mar 1, 2018 · What does wag the dog mean? To wag the dog means to distract attention away from a political scandal, often through military action.
The idiom “wag the dog” refers to a situation where someone creates a distraction from something important by focusing on something less significant. It’s often used in politics or media to describe situations where attention is diverted from an issue of importance.
to hide something. a small part (of something) controlling the big part. circumstances where a larger group does things in order to satisfy a smaller group. Example Sentences. The prime minister keeps wagging the dog to keep people from actually finding out about the scam and its details.
The phrase 'Wag the Dog' is used to indicate that attention is purposely being diverted from something of greater importance to something of lesser importance. Example of Use: “He’s wagging the dog to keep you from discovering the truth about the car wreck.”.
To 'wag the dog' means to purposely divert attention from what would otherwise be of greater importance, to something else of lesser significance. By doing so, the lesser-significant event is catapulted into the limelight, drowning proper attention to what was originally the more important issue.
wag the dog. 1. verb In politics, to orchestrate some high-profile event or action in order to distract from something negative or damaging, usually a scandal of some kind. Derived from the phrase "the tail wagging the dog" and popularized by the 1997 satirical film Wag the Dog.
You can use "Wag the Dog" to describe a situation where someone intentionally tries to divert attention from an important matter by focusing on something less significant. For example, if a politician is facing criticism for a controversial decision, they might try to "wag the dog" by bringing up a minor scandal to shift the public's attention.
