Idiom
dog that caught the car
Meaning
A person who has unexpectedly attained an aspirational goal and is now unsure what to do with it.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“He got the promotion, but now he is like a dog that caught the car.”
“You look like a dog that caught the car now that you own the company.”
“After winning the election, the candidate felt like a dog that caught the car, realizing he had no plan for governing.”
“She spent years trying to buy this huge house, but now she feels like a dog that caught the car because the maintenance is overwhelming.”
“After his video went viral, the young artist felt like a dog that caught the car when he realized he had to manage thousands of new customers.”
“Having finally acquired the massive corporation he spent decades chasing, the executive felt like a dog that caught the car, paralyzed by the sudden weight of his own ambition.”
Examples
simple
“He got the promotion, but now he is like a dog that caught the car.”
“You look like a dog that caught the car now that you own the company.”
contextual
“After winning the election, the candidate felt like a dog that caught the car, realizing he had no plan for governing.”
“She spent years trying to buy this huge house, but now she feels like a dog that caught the car because the maintenance is overwhelming.”
“After his video went viral, the young artist felt like a dog that caught the car when he realized he had to manage thousands of new customers.”
complex
“Having finally acquired the massive corporation he spent decades chasing, the executive felt like a dog that caught the car, paralyzed by the sudden weight of his own ambition.”
Origin
Derived from the canine instinct to pursue passing motor vehicles, the majority of which travel at a velocity and distance that preclude a successful capture. The idiom contemplates the predicament of an animal that has achieved a goal for which it possesses no further instructions.
Key words
Related idioms
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