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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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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. The 1997 film Wag the Dog shortened the phrase and added the additional meaning of "superfluous (military) action in order to distract from domestic scandal."
Wag the dog. 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). It is usually used by a politician when they are in a ...
Jul 8, 2018 · Wag the dog went on to develop its own specialized political meaning. In 1997, a film called Wag the Dog came out, based on a 1993 novel of the same name by Larry Beinhart. The plot revolved around efforts to distract attention from a presidential scandal by fabricating a war.
Mar 1, 2018 · Wag the dog comes from the longer expression the tail wagging the dog.. The tail wagging the dog is an American idiom that dates back to at least the 1870s. Research by Gary Martin for the UK-based website Phrase Finder first finds the expression in an 1872 local newspaper, The Daily Republican: “Calling to mind Lord Dundreary’s conundrum, the Baltimore American thinks that for the ...
Mistake #1: Using it in the wrong context. 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.
Origin. There is a popular saying which goes “a dog is smarter than its tail, but if the tail were smarter, then the tail would wag the dog “. The phrase in discussion is the shorter version of the same. The phrase is also the tittle of a black comedy film from 1997. Share your opinions 2 Opinions. Perhaps these diffintions are part of ...
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Meaning: 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. The expression comes from the saying ...
What does the phrase 'Wag the Dog' mean? Find out the phrase's definition & origin, and get examples of how to use it in a sentence. ... Interesting fact about Wag the Dog. The term 'wag the dog' comes from the expression that a dog is smarter than its tail, but if the tail were smarter than the dog, the tail would be in control. ...
The Tail Is Wagging the Dog Meaning. Tail wagging the dog is a saying that means a small part is controlling the whole thing. The imagery evokes the unlikely scenario of a dog being led or controlled by its tail rather than the other way around. This vivid metaphor underscores the absurdity of letting a small part dictate the actions or ...
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. A: "You don't find it suspicious that the president ordered air strikes the ...
