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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.
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 ...
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."
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.
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).
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.
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The idiom "wag the dog" is used to describe a situation where someone or something is causing chaos or stirring up trouble in order to divert attention away from a problem or issue. It suggests that the person or thing is trying to create a distraction by making a big fuss or causing a commotion, typically in order to hide something else that they don't want to be revealed.
