Rate this phrase:0.0 / 0 votes

wag the dog

To divert negative political attention by use of a military operation.

Etymology:

  • From tail wagging the dog. The shortened form with the political sense was popularized by the film Wag the Dog.
19 Views
Collection   Edit    

Submitted on July 10, 2018

Translation

Find a translation for the wag the dog phrase in other languages:

mover la cola

mener le chien

scodinzolare il cane

개 죽이기.

abanar o cachorro

clătina câinele

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to wag the dog

tail wagging the dogsea dogthat old dog won't huntyellow dogshe would rip a dog off a gut wagonsick as a dogwhat dogyellow dogto dog flyyellow dogyou can't teach an old dog new tricksuntil the last dog is hungthat dog won't huntwalk the dog

How to pronounce this phrase?

Discuss this wag the dog phrase with the community:

0 Comments

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this wag the dog definition to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "wag the dog." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 22 Dec. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/wag-the-dog_26777>.

    Powered by CITE.ME Cite.Me

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest human-edited phrases collection on the web!

    Quiz

    Are you a phrases master?

    »
    Serves them __________ for sneaking off like that.
    A right
    B best
    C up
    D wrong

    Browse Phrases.com

    #ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ