Search results
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.”. It can also be used as a hashtag to call attention to a person’s use of this strategy.
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."
Mar 1, 2018 · Before the film Wag the Dog and its allusive application to the Clinton scandal, the idiom wag the dog was more commonly used with or in reference to the full phrase, the tail wagging the dog, i.e., a reversal of proper roles. Since then, wag the dog has come to be used on its own and as a term for a political diversion.
Definition of wag the dog in the Idioms Dictionary. wag the dog phrase. What does wag the dog expression mean? Definitions by the largest Idiom Dictionary.
Oct 2, 2024 · 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 3 Opinions.
Wag the dog is a political term for 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 scandal, in hopes ...
People also ask
What does the term 'Wag the Dog' mean?
What does waging a dog mean?
Where did the phrase 'wagging the dog' come from?
What does tail wagging the dog mean?
What is a Wag the dog tactic?
Does the management Wag the dog?
Definitions include: a mess, from "dog's breakfast." DD; Definitions include: daughter; acronym for "dear daughter". d*ck the dog; Definitions include: to engage in an unproductive activity; waste time. dog; Definitions include: a friend. dog and bone; Definitions include: "dog and bone" is Cockney slang for phone. (show 72 more hide)
