Idiom
wag the dog
Meaning
To divert negative political attention by use of a military operation.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“The president tried to wag the dog to hide his scandal.”
“Leaders often wag the dog when they face a major crisis at home.”
“Does the navy really need to wag the dog during this peaceful month?”
“Critics claimed the sudden military intervention was just an attempt to wag the dog during the election campaign.”
“The government announced a sudden border dispute to wag the dog after the news of the bribery case broke.”
“Voters worried the prime minister would wag the dog by starting a small war to improve his low approval ratings.”
“By initiating a conflict abroad, the administration hoped to wag the dog and distract the public from the failing domestic economy.”
Examples
simple
“The president tried to wag the dog to hide his scandal.”
“Leaders often wag the dog when they face a major crisis at home.”
“Does the navy really need to wag the dog during this peaceful month?”
contextual
“Critics claimed the sudden military intervention was just an attempt to wag the dog during the election campaign.”
“The government announced a sudden border dispute to wag the dog after the news of the bribery case broke.”
“Voters worried the prime minister would wag the dog by starting a small war to improve his low approval ratings.”
complex
“By initiating a conflict abroad, the administration hoped to wag the dog and distract the public from the failing domestic economy.”
Origin
The idiom is derived from the expression *the tail wags the dog*, a reversal of natural order first appearing in the 1858 play *Our American Cousin*. While the longer metaphor for the minor part controlling the whole has nineteenth-century roots, the shortened form entered the political lexicon following the 1997 film *Wag the Dog*.
Key words
Related idioms
- Updated